Friday, 5 December 2014

2014 Christmas Break

Even
though a lot of activity around the Maddie case seems to be going to
take place in the next week, we see no reason to break with tradition.

We
see foresee three things: the fulfilment of SY’s 5th rogatory letter,
written back in August and whereby 11 people at request of the Met will
be questioned by PJ, the final allegations in the McCann v Amaral
damages trial and Brenda Leyland’s Pre Inquest Review.

1. The “Gang of 11”

The
uncertainty about what under legal status these people will be heard,
if as arguidos or witnesses, only shows that the case continues on the
negotiation table of this arm-wrestling match.

Still having
doubts about whether a person is to be heard next week as an arguido or
witness is like not knowing on the eve of a game if a certain individual
will be a player or the referee on the pitch.

The determination
of what legal status a person is to be questioned is determined
beforehand. Those deciding know exactly the criteria and when a person
is notified, the status under which the person will be interviewed is
clearly mentioned.

It’s unrealistic to think witnesses may be
“lured” into an interrogation room and be surprised half way through by
being questioned as arguido, things do not work that way.

A
witness, during interrogation, may provide answers that may justify
having the arguido status. But that must come as a surprise to those
interrogating. There must be a “wait-a-minute” moment. The interrogation
then must be interrupted, the person notified of the new legal status
and respective rights and most likely will want to reschedule the
questioning.

So this to and fro about arguidos being transformed
at the last minute into witnesses can only be, in our opinion, due to
the conveniences of the game, and absolutely nothing to do with
individual rights and guarantees for which these legal statuses were
designed.

In plain terms, they will be arguido or witnesses
according to what is convenient for them to be and absolutely nothing to
do with the reasons why they became persons of interest to the case.

Justice cannot simply cannot be more defaced than this.

It
has become a stage-prop of a play based on an improvised script
continuously updated and directed by various people who despise each
other profoundly.

But, we mustn’t forget a multi-million pound production.

A mess. A tragedy. A slapstick comedy at times.

Last we heard, all 11 persons of interest will be heard as witnesses. No more 4 arguidos and 7 witnesses.

This
fact, by the way, that there will only be witnesses reduces the 253
questions to 251.

It’s completely illegal to ask a witness questions
like “Did you kill Madeleine McCann?” and “Where did you hide the body?”

Such “direct queries” can only be put to arguidos. Not to witnesses as about these authorities have no reasons to suspect they've done anything wrong.

Just
like it was done in July 2014 when the “July
arguidos” were asked, with total legality, the exact same “direct queries” of “Did you kill
Madeleine McCann?” and “Where did you hide the body?”, as reported by the Express.

In
case next week there will only be witnesses, then the media is falsely
reporting questions in rogatory letters. If those questions are indeed
requested to be asked, then they have to be arguidos.

About the
people to be questioned, we will wait until all the cards are on the
table. Only then will we be able to say what value they have, how they
connect between each other and others and, what is most important, why
they have been played.

For now, we feel certain that Murat, his
wife Michaela and her ex-husband Luis are on the list. The “serious” MSM
have reported this, so very unlikely not to be true.

The Express, on 30NOV2014, reported that on the list were Silvia Batista, John and Donna Hill and Mario Fernando.

Silvia
Batista “ran the service and maintenance departments of the Ocean Club
at Praia da Luz on the Algarve where the McCanns were staying” and “in
her statement Mrs Batista said Gerry told her he had closed the windows
as their other two children, Sean and Amelie, then 18 months, were still
asleep in separate cots in the bedroom.”

Strange none of Gerry’s fingerprints being found on the shutters, only Kate’s.

It
seems Silvia and her husband João, who was head of maintenance and
services, no longer work there as “in the past year both were made
redundant because of falling bookings at the Ocean Club, which have been
blamed on the recession and publicity surrounding Madeleine's
disappearance.”

John Hill, is, we suppose, still manager of the
Ocean Club. “He also spoke with Kate and Gerry that night in their
apartment and helped arrange for photos of the child to be distributed.
Mr Hill and his wife Donna printed pictures after being given a memory
stick by Russell O'Brien, a friend of the McCanns whose partner Jane
Tanner's picture of Madeleine gathering tennis balls is well known.”

Well,
we thought those pictures had been printed by a nanny, Amy T. And isn’t
Kate who says in her book that she’s the one who takes the picture of
Madeleine gathering the tennis balls?

Mario Fernando is the man
who “who came forward last May to say he saw a suspicious man wearing
sun glasses in a stairwell looking at apartment 5a 24 hours before
Madeleine disappeared. The former Ocean Club laundryman was collecting
sheets when he saw the man: "I saw the weird guy and we nearly bumped
into each other. He was embarrassed. He was nervous. He was walking out
from the hole under the stairs and must have been much further inside
but had taken several steps back after hearing me coming. He had a
really fat face and had two-tone sunglasses on."”

Robert,
Michaela, Luis, Silvia, John, Donna and Manuel, that’s 7 people. Add the
gardener and we only have 3 left to be identified.

If, and we
repeat if, the list above has any similarity with reality, then we would
say, without even knowing who the missing 3 are, that all, without
exception, are indeed people of interest to the truth.

They tell us that our reading of the game has been correct this far.

If
the “July arguidos” episode was to bring Murat and the Ocean Club into
the picture, this next group of people are the confirmation that the net
has definitely widened to the Ocean Club and the ex-pat community of
PdL and its thread is getting stronger to catch bigger fish.

If
the already very implausible panicking burglar theory met its demise with
the nomination of Robert Murat as a person of interest, then the
confirmation of those listed above will be its memorial service. To be a whitewash SY would have to be completely corrupt and evil to put people through
this, just for show, and Portugal for allowing them.

Of
the 8 persons, 2 (Michaela and Luis) weren’t present at the crime scene, 3
(Silvia, John and Donna) arrived at crime scene AFTER alarm was raised
and 1 (Robert) who maintains he was in his house the whole night was pointed out by 3 of T9 who say
they saw him near the apartment AFTER the alarm.

So these 6 people are either
part of a “burglar gang” that pre-planned Maddie's kidnapping or, as far as
we can see, they have nothing to contribute to the investigation of a
bungled burglary that, obviously, happened BEFORE the alarm.

We also cannot guess what the printing of Maddie’s photos have to do with discovering who the bungling burglars may be.

That
leaves laundryman and the gardener as the only 2, so far, who may have
something to say about events and/or people before Maddie disappeared.

The blog considers both to be people of interest to the case. If it's confirmed that either or both are questioned then we will explain why we think so.

We
do hope the other 3 people supposedly left to be identified will be TS, JW and Derek Flack, the three witnesses who in the 2009 Mockumentary say they saw Pimpleman. We do note the total lack of interest on SY’s part about this man even though
he was allegedly seen 5 times lurking apartment 5A by 3 different
people.

But as we have said, we will wait and see who the people
are SY has requested to be questioned and we will be curious under what
legal status they will be heard.

For us, the only important day
about this subject will be the one when SY announces “About the
Madeleine McCann investigation, the Metropolitan Police has come to the
following conclusion…”

Then, and only then, will there be a
palpable result. And only palpable results really interest us.

Until then, all we can do is to watch how this
multi-million pound game is being played.

2. The Damages Trial

The damages trial McCann vs Amaral in Lisbon is to resume. Resume, not
end. In fact, its end is not exactly clear as we will explain.

What
is scheduled to happen next week, are the final allegations of both
sides. From Isabel Duarte, on the accusing side and from the various
defence lawyers on the other.

In Portugal, it’s not unusual for
the final allegation sessions to take days. We think that due to the
simplicity of the process – yes, it is a pretty simple and
straightforward case – it might not be the case, however, we wouldn’t be
surprised if it took at least a couple of days due to the number of
lawyers making their final allegations.

Let’s hope not, let’s hope that it will be swift. Let’s hope there are no incidents, such as illnesses or changing of lawyers.

About the ending. Well, the judge has apparently said that she will read sentence in February.

It
seems that everyone is forgetting one thing – or that we here missed it
completely – and that is the McCanns still have to provide proof that
they can represent Maddie. The WoC issue.

To the best of our
recollection, the judge determined that they have 30 days after the
final allegations to hand the court such proof. We presume that these
are business days, so making a rough estimate that deadline falls at the
end of January.

If the McCanns fail to produce the required
documentation, then we think the judge has no choice but to nullify all
proceedings and call for a retrial, now with plaintiffs being the
parents and the twins and no damages can be claimed for hindering the
search for Maddie.

But, let’s suppose that the McCanns do – or
already have – produced the necessary authorisation from the UK to
represent Maddie. That means sentence in February. At last. Again, mind
you, that is if there are no incidents in between.

But is it over?

Very far from it. We warned the McCanns that this would be a long process back in January 2010.

We
have stated that Team McCann has done all possible to lose. That the
only thing standing between Mr Amaral and him not losing is the
Portuguese justice system itself which has a tendency to rely on the
appeal courts for the rightful decisions and so usually give reasons to
plaintiffs in the 1st instance.

We honestly can’t see how any
reason can be given to the McCanns but we will not underestimate the
capability of the system to see things we normal human beings can’t.

So
we would say that Mr Amaral, in our opinion, has 98/99% chances of not
losing while the McCanns hold a margin of 1/2% chances of winning.

If the McCanns win, Mr Amaral will surely appeal. So the process goes on.

If
Mr Amaral doesn’t lose, or if the process is nullified because of
inappropriate legal representation of Madeleine McCann in court, he has
already shown the will to counter-attack, so the legal battle between
him and the couple will continue.

The McCanns won’t appeal as
that would go against the deal they proposed back in January 2013. The
trial has gone on because Mr Amaral showed clearly he wanted it to
continue.

As can be seen, anyway anyone looks at it, the legal
battle between Mr Amaral and the McCanns is still very, very far from
being over.

About the trial, we have noted that some say there is
a conspiracy that closely coordinates the damages trial sessions and SY
coming to Portugal or publicizing some “progress” in its investigation.

We
have even received a comment stating that this proves that we are wrong
about stating that there are 2 groups of deciding Black Hats – the
Government BH and the Swinging BH – because this “evident” coordination
proves there was only one group.

We fail to see the logic of the
argument. If such supposed coordination does exist, it only proves the
existence of 1 group, but doesn’t disprove the existence of others. The
fact, supposedly, that a group decides to act in a certain way in any
way interferes with the choices of action of other groups.

But we
don’t believe, with the exception of two occasions – by the way each
one of the 2 groups of BH acted – to be any sort of coordination between
having the SY investigation and damages trial sessions simultaneously.

And in our opinion we think the 2 occasions were:

First by the Government BH, the airing of the UK Crimewatch on October 2013,
to coincide with the reading of the sentence, initially scheduled for
the 1st week of October 2103. Needless to say, the Portuguese justice
system didn’t comply with its own initial plan and showed in the
following months that it basically didn’t comply with any plan at all;

Then by the Swinging BH, the “Black-Hat-September”, supposed to coincide
with the final allegations that were supposed to take place that month and the SY questioning of the 11 persons of interest. The idea would be to ride the wave of overflow of information about Maddie to drive in the idea that the internet was only filled with haters. However, this plan was foiled by the CITIUS software crash that no one predicted.
What was supposed to happen in September, trial and questioning, is to happen 3
months later. Two Sky News documentaries and one thing made out of paper and filled up with letters, gone to waste.

Both coordination attempts went wrong.

But
say those insisting on the trial/SY conspiracy that in July, the 4
arguidos were heard exactly when Kate and Gerry McCann stood in court
and that now, the next set of people of interest will be questioned at
exactly the same time the trial resumes.

In the first case, Kate
and Gerry only took the stand in July because Mr Amaral fired his lawyer
to the surprise of all.

If Mr Amaral had not
fired his lawyer, then Kate and Gerry would have taken the stand on
that same day, in June, and the “July arguidos” would only be questioned later.

About
next week, as the rogatory letter was written up in August, approved
only in early November and the hearings supposed to have taken place
between the 24 to 28 November, would not coincide with the final
allegation session.

To have the trial and questioning dates
coordinated for next week it would mean that the disagreement about the
legal status under which certain persons of interest were to be heard
never happened and was just an excuse given to justify having a
Portuguese prosecutor in Faro coordinate with a Portuguese judge in
Lisbon on which days both things could be held simultaneously.

Not
very realistic in our opinion. And it wouldn’t explain why SY
surprisingly appeared at INML in October to make all that fuss about
forensics while no trial activity was scheduled and the rogatory letter
requesting the questioning hadn’t been approved yet.

Not to forget that SY flew over PdL in a helicopter in May and were on all fours in June –
while nothing on the trial was taking place.

But let’s
for a moment momentarily lose reason and say there is a conspiracy to
have both trial and SY activities taking place simultaneously.

To what purpose, may one ask? Which one intends to overshadow the other? We can’t see which, with all honesty.

Besides,
why overshadow either? UK MSM only reports what it wants to report on
the case. It doesn’t need any conspiracy to do that. Want an example?
The Channel 5 Documentary – The Global Obsession, still said that Mr
Amaral’s book was banned.

The lifting of the ban was something
that UK MSM “overlooked” to report then, and for all intent and purpose,
British general public still think that it is indeed banned.

UK MSM will give as much or as little info as they choose. The Sun only gave a tiny column to 11 persons of interest story.

Coincidences
do happen and we don’t believe there’s any connection between the
trial’s timeline with SY’s investigation. Only on one thing: the trial
decision unfavourable to the McCanns will give a big help to the
Government BH to make the final and decisive push against the Swinging
BH.

3. Sweepyface

On the 18th there will be a Pre Review Inquest on Brenda Leyland’s death
which is still to be ascertained. It will be to determine who can be
witnesses and if anything illegal occurred. It will be like a court
directions hearing and nothing much is expected to happen on that day.

It
could go on for years and those thinking that it would be an
opportunity to see Martin Brunt squirm in justifications may best stay
home and save their trip expenses.

Death is, as said, to be
determined. We wait for coroner’s report.

Pre Review may announce cause of death if results known but may still need to call witnesses if suicide is the outcome.

If death was natural causes, then we don't see what witnesses could say as it can't be proved that her death resulted from anything related to Sky News interview.

If it appears death was suspicious, then this would have to be investigated by police.

If the Inquest is complex, reports are not forthcoming, or it appears
that the adjournment is continuing for too long, the Coroner will fix a
date when all interested persons, including the family of the deceased
and any legal representatives will be required to attend court for a
formal hearing. This will be a public hearing.

At a Pre Inquest Review the Coroner will deal with any outstanding
matters and will give such further directions as are necessary to
prepare the case for a final hearing.

Usually the Coroner, in conjunction with the family and legal
representatives will, at the Pre-Inquest review, decide upon the scope
of the Inquest, the evidence to be heard and the witnesses to be called
at the final hearing.

The date for the final hearing will usually be set at this Pre Inquest Rreview. All interested persons will receive written confirmation of the
date and the date will be publicised on the website.

Any properly interested person who wishes to inspect or receive copies
of any statement or document to be considered at the Inquest may apply
to the Coroner.

As we said, we don't know cause of death and can't speculate, but looks like it won't be resolved before New Year.

However there are many questions we wish we would have answered to but very unlikely to get any on the 18th.

Why
wasn’t Brenda Leyland surprised with Brunt appearing at her home? She
does seem surprised by what he has to say after he meets up with her but
the way she walks towards him is if she was expecting him only not at
that inconvenient time as she was about to go out with a friend.

Why did
Martin Brunt and his crew wait for Brenda to return? He has filmed his
“ambush” got the surprised reaction of the victim who was filmed leaving the scene in a car with a friend:

So why not pack things up and leave?

Brenda is
filmed inviting him inside her house. Meaning it was after she returned (this is not
filmed or is said if she decided to cancel outing with friend because of report). She got out of the car, walked to her door and invited Brunt inside, politely but visibly angry:

Between this and the moment Brenda drove away what did Brunt do? If she did go out with her friend as it seems she did, why wait so long for Brenda on her
doorstep?

Why was Martin Brunt holding copy of documentation
allegedly under investigation? Someone provided a copy to Brunt and
informed him that it was material under investigation. We understand
that Mr Brunt has the right to protect his sources but by showing
documentation under investigation – and hindering it by revealing
through a printout that clearly identified a site that was supposed to
be under police scrutiny – did he commit a crime? What does the
British justice system intend to do about it?

Why hasn’t Martin Brunt or Sky News issued and official apology about their performance with regards to Brenda Leyland? This one we will answer ourselves to be fair to the man: probably advised not to as he could legally incriminate himself if he did apologise.

Who
advised Brenda Leyland to seek refuge in a hotel so near home? If she
felt unsafe for some reason being in her house after the Sky News
exposure, why not flee far away instead of staying at an arm’s reach of the menacing press.

That hotel, near her home, would probably be one where reporters
interested in the story would stay. It was like running away from wasps
and hide in their nest.

But the most important question we would
like answered is why is sweepyface Brenda Leyland? Or, to more
specific, why, when and how was the pseudonym sweepyface linked to the
individual Brenda Leyland?

We first noticed the oddity of this identification outing in this picture from the Daily Mail of 01OCT2014:

As a footnote to it it’s said “some identities have been held for legal reasons”.

Well, we have on that particular picture 3 @******** and 1 @sweepyface.

So it can be deduced that the only identity not held for legal reasons was @sweepyface.

But
@sweepyface is not an identity. It’s a pseudonym, a pen name, a nom de
plume, a literary double. Not and identity. Something adopted by a person to
assure their anonymity.

The pseudonym @sweepyface provides the
exact same kind identification as @sledgehammer, @pinkpanther,
@marypoppins, @thick_ankles or even @anonymous. Usernames that we've just invented but most likely exist.

Usernames don't provide ANY personal identification. In fact, a username only identifies the use of a Twitter account. It may represent one person or it may represent many. Anyone who has the respective password.

People
using pseudonyms wish to remain anonymous. It’s their right. Much
like the right to remain as anonymous as the woman who appears in the
video – by coincidence no longer available on youtube but can still be seen on this Sky News webpage – saying she was
the one who collated the info that was put into the in the infamous tr*ll
dossier.

Also, if the other pseudonyms were held for legal
reasons, one can only assume that @sweepyface was authorised to be used
by Brenda Leyland. When did this happen?

But note that Martin Brunt never identifies Brenda Leyland. This is the transcript of the video:

“Brenda Leyland on screen, filmed outside this lady’s home, as she approaches her car.Martin
Brunt:“This woman uses Twitter to attack the parents of Madeleine
McCann. On the internet she’s anonymous – not anymore!”A woman walks from her car and approaches Martin Brunt.Woman:“Well I’m just about to go out”Brunt:“No, we caught you! Can we talk to you about your Twitter… handle, and your attacks on the McCanns?”Woman: “No!”Brunt:“Why are you attacking them so regularly?”Woman:“Look I’m just going out with a friend ok?”The woman makes her way to a waiting car. Martin Brunt follows her.Brunt:“But why are you using your Twitter Account to attack the McCanns?”Woman: “I’m entitled to do that”Brunt:
“You know you have been reported to the police to Scotland Yard? They
are considering a whole file of Twitter accounts …”Woman: “That is fair enough”Brunt:“… of what supporters say is a campaign of abuse against the McCanns.”Woman:“Okay then well I am going out now.”

Brunt: “The Crown Prosecution Service is considering it. Are you worried about that?”Woman: “No.”Woman gets in and leaves in a car driven by a friend.Brunt:“On Twitter she uses the name ‘sweepyface’ and the profile picture of a
pet. She tweets many times a day, and mostly about the McCanns. In
one message she spread rumours about the couples marriage, in another
she hoped Madeleine’s parents would suffer forever.But sweepyface is not the worst.”

The
woman is simply identified as sweepyface. Strangely for an experienced reporter to
say “on the internet she’s anonymous – not anymore!” and then only reveal a pseudonym as an identity.

Brenda Leyland’s identity was revealed by her face. It was the internet that publicly linked her face to her name, not Sky News.

But,
and that is the importance of our question, Mr Brunt to make that
report knew that @sweepyface was Brenda Leyland and knew where she
lived.

Unless Brenda Leyland identified herself clearly in one of
her tweets, someone, somehow, somewhere, went to the trouble of
identifying the pseudonym and passed this information to Martin Brunt.
This implies to us, a crime of violation of privacy – for some reason
Daily Mail held “identities” for legal reasons in the picture above.

Again we ask, what is the British justice system going to do about it?

We wish our readers, their families and friends, a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015.

151 comments:

Merry Christmas Textusa Merry Christmas Goncalo Amaral Merry Christmas Andy RedwoodMerry Christmas Mr and Mrs Mc Cann and your two children. and thoughts and prayers for those who are sadly no longer with us this Christmas time.

I think the PJ and Sy are pretty much in the same spirit. SY is getting pressured to doing things a certain way but then there is the Portuguese judicial system which lays very clear boundaries which is saving the investigation from being highjacked by the Whitehall Dyson cleaner of any morality or countibility. Especially in regard to children.

For some reason this post is my most all time favourite. Your knowing is palpable and your certainty within that is reassuring.

May it be a Christ filled period where mankind may, by an act of supreme grace, redeem itself. May we all remember that it is our primary duty to see the beautiful. to be holy and to be kind.Most Holy days to All.

Sometimes there are forces & events too big,too powerful,with so much at stake for other people & institutions,that you cannot do anything about them,no matter how evil or wrong they are & no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have.This is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face. -10th CIA Director,William Colby.

My simple analogy is this, that it's a bit like using "a sledge hammer to crack the nut," the nut in this case being the PJ and it's institution's not wishing to collude to the larger Authority,UK government. Hence there trying a new approach using a woman to woman investigation, be very aware of the wolf in sheep's clothing and don't give them any DNA evidence to survey as you know what happened the last time?

Thank you once again.I follow your Blog avidly.Your latest musings are so very welcomeThank you for your summations of all the remaining 'problems'I am getting weary of everything I have to say.Will Nicola Wall make any kind if difference or will it be more of the same? Yes Textusa I have read your thoughts on 'No Whitewash'My spirits were lifted, I can but hope.Always knew that DCI Redwood was due to retire, what concerns me now is where and how the case will move forward.Thank you TextusaI admire you greatly and your dedication in being a voice for a little girl who sadly is unable to speak for herself.Luckily, she has you.Let's hope that this scenario will finally reach a conclusion in 2015.Justice for a little girl and Snr AmaralThank you Textusa.Have a wonderful Christmas break(Fridays will not be the same without you!)

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/544461/Police-quiz-two-male-suspects-about-missing-Madeleine-McCannNow it's 2 male suspects!British and Portuguese.How can it be narrowed to 2 before questioning starts?

I wish the Sisters and my fellow blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from the bottom of my heart!I extend my wish to Dr. Amaral and his family, and to all who seek truth and justice for Madeleine.

I,ll miss you,as I "visit" you everyday! but of course we must all enjoy precious time with our families.I actually start my pre Christmas visits this weekend ,as my amazing family is too big for us all to celebrate Christmastime together,but hey at 74 I,ll enjoy being with them in their loving homes,so I WISH YOU ,and fellow members here a lovely Christmas and of course Good New Year ,Lynn ps Who knows "maybe" 2015 will be the year we will ,finally see Justice for little Madeline,and those involved pay the price!!!!!,

Robert Murat and his wife WILL be among 11 interviewed as witnesses into disappearance of Madeleine McCann after Scotland Yard detectives arrive in Portugal

Operation Grange Chief, DCI Andy Redwood, arrived in Faro this morning Seven of the 11 people being questioned are of 'high interest' to searchFormer British suspect, Robert Murat, and his wife will be questioned too British police have reportedly supplied over 250 questions for witnesses Interviews this week are the latest since four suspects were quizzed in JulyMadeleine McCann was three years old when she disappeared in May 2007

Scotland Yard detectives have arrived in Portugal to begin a fresh round of interviews over Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

DCI Andy Redwood marched into Faro Police Station at 9.30am this morning for three days of questioning with 11 witnesses. The Operation Grange chief was accompanied by two colleagues.

He declined to answer a battery of questions put to him by waiting reporters, as he walked the short distance from his hire car to the front door of the station.

Seven of the men and women due to be questioned have been described as people of 'high interest' to the Madeleine McCann probe. The four others are said to be of lesser importance.

One of them is former British suspect, Robert Murat, and his wife. Mr Murat's lawyer confirmed he has been asked to attend Faro Police station as a witness, along with Michaela Walczuch.

The pair have are due to arrive tomorrow morning at around 9.30am for questioning.

Francisco Pagarete said: 'Mr Murat will be questioned tomorrow. I will be attending the police station with him.

'He has been asked in for questioning as a witness. Michaela has also been asked in for questioning on the same day.'

A long-haired Portuguese man covered his face as he entered the police station just before 10am this morning.

John Hill, manager of the Ocean Club holiday resort where Madeleine was staying when she vanished on May 3, 2007, is also expected to be interviewed -- along with laundryman Mario Fernando Madeira.

Mr Madeira, 48, said last year he had informed Portuguese police that he saw a man wearing sunglasses lurking in a stairwell near Madeleine McCann's apartment, just 24 hours before she vanished.

British police have reportedly supplied over 250 questions for the Portuguese authorities to ask the 11 witnesses.

He declined to make any comment and it was not clear if he had been called in for questioning over Madeleine McCann or he was unrelated to the case.

DCI Nicola Wall from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command Unit, who is due to take over leadership of the investigation when Mr Redwood retires on December 22, also arrived in Portugal today.

British detectives are expected to ask for permission to carry out new tests on DNA material held at a lab in Coimbra, northern Portugal, once she's in charge of the Operation Grange case.

The interviews arranged for this week follow a fifth international letter of request from the British authorities. They are the first since four men were quizzed as 'arguidos' or suspects at the start of July.

All four, who included Russian businessman Sergey Malinka and a schizophrenic heroin addict, insisted they had nothing to do with Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Individuals in Portugal are given 'arguido' status if authorities suspect their involvement in a crime but are not in a position to arrest or charge them.

The 11 men and women due to be questioned this week could in theory be made arguidos at any time.

If that happens, they can only be quizzed in the presence of a lawyer and can refuse to answer questions.

IT consultant Mr Murat, who had his arguido status removed in 2008, when the first Portuguese probe into Madeleine's disappearance was shelved, has said his conscience is clear and he is happy to speak to police again if required.

Brtitish police maintain the belief that Madeleine was killed during a bungled burglary -- a theory their Portuguese counterparts have privately rubbished.

Parts of the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine vanished were dug up in June at Scotland Yard's request in a grim search for her body which failed to yield any clues.

Last month it emerged the British police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance has cost almost £8million.

DCI Redwood and his colleagues, who normally fly with British Airways, jetted to Portugal yesterday morning with budget carrier, EasyJet.

BBC radio just got it wrong by saying 7 of 11 were Portuguese.I make it 4 Portuguese men and 1 Portuguese woman.Who shot the pigeon?

By the way, in the foreword to Summers book, the authors write that there was not a shred of evidence that Murat was guilty of any malfeasance of any kind in relation to M's disappearance.Still, after 2 years of studying the case, he is an expert and should have advised SY they are mistaken about their suspect. He should make sure they question Mummyman.Or is he another media invention?

Great blog Text….Merry Christmas to you and your sisters….hopefully results next year. Just listened to the podcast of this show. Gamble when commenting on an interview throws into the mix that the language used in the interview regarding abuse is too loose……” I have made those mistakes in 2007. I have learned a lot since then”. Is somebody trying to back track on things said in 2007.

I do not think i would be a very happy chappy playing charades for the MSM whilst the person's left to Care for their children of whom one was alleged to have been abducted, are protected by an armoured cloak of secret pacts of persuasion of unnamed sources back in the UK, It seems as though other peoples reputation means nothing as long as it sin't aimed in their direction?

9 December 2014 Last updated at 16:21 GMT Madeleine McCann: UK police observe questioning in PortugalPortuguese police are questioning 11 people as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007.They are being observed by Met Police detectives who arrived in Faro earlier.Among the witnesses due to be questioned over the next three days is British ex-pat Robert Murat.Mr Murat, who is not a suspect, was first questioned when three-year-old Madeleine went missing from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz seven years ago.He was cleared of any wrongdoing and won substantial damages from British newspapers over how he was portrayed at the time.Along with Mr Murat and his wife, police are expected to question two other British people and seven Portuguese citizens.Last month, Mr Murat told the BBC: "My conscience is clear and I have no problem speaking to the police again."The BBC has learnt that of 10 people of interest that British police have requested be interviewed by Portuguese police in Faro, three are being questioned on Tuesday, four on Wednesday - including Mr Murat - and three on Thursday. The 11th person is a woman who is currently in the UK and will be questioned there at a later date.Some of the interviewees are former employees of the Ocean Club where the McCanns were staying when Madeleine went missing, BBC correspondent Christian Fraser said.He added that police would be looking for "inconsistencies" with any answers witnesses gave seven years ago.In Portuguese law, if officers suspect an individual's involvement in a crime but are not in a position to arrest or charge, they are given "arguido" status - giving them the right not to answer questions and to legal representation.Police from the UK have supplied more than 250 questions for Portuguese police to ask the 11 witnesses. A huddle of camera crews and photographers surrounded Det Ch Insp Redwood as he walked up the narrow cobbled street outside the police station in Faro. He was repeatedly asked questions but didn't make any statement about the case. After years of rumours and suspicion, some residents in Praia da Luz, the resort where Madeleine went missing, feel the focus on the case has gone on for too long. A few "Stop" road signs in the area now have graffiti that reads: "Stop McCann Circus".Earlier this year detectives from London flew to the Algarve to assist with searching scrubland near the resort where Madeleine disappeared. They did not uncover any evidence.The Met's Operation Grange was set up in 2011 after Prime Minister David Cameron asked the force to "bring their expertise" to the inquiry following a request from Kate and Gerry McCann.Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas said Portuguese police would now be "tracing, interviewing and eliminating" witnesses and suspects."What the British police are doing is going through all the documentation they've had from the Portuguese, as well as what they've collected themselves," he told BBC News."But of course this is problematic because it's not a British inquiry and there is real sensitivity. It's almost like treading on egg-shells because... another force is coming in and saying 'we don't think you did the inquiry very well, we think we can do it better'."He said the British police involvement had now cost £8m and ideally a permanent team of officers would work hand in hand with their Portuguese counterparts. "The sad reality is that until we know what's happened and either an offender has been caught or Madeleine has been found, we aren't any further forward," he added.

Marques is among 11 men and women who this week are being interviewed by British and Portuguese officers probing the mystery.

Madeleine, from Leicestershire, vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007, days before her fourth birthday.

Marques was first questioned by police 20 days after she disappeared.

It is understood he was ruled out of the Portuguese police inquiry after giving an alibi. He was questioned again after the release of a sketch by an FBI-trained artist based on descriptions by British tourist Gail Cooper.

She told police a “creepy man” came to her villa asking for donations for an orphanage days before Madeleine went missing.

Yesterday Marques was spoken to as a witness and not as a “person of interest” to the police. Marques, who at the time was living with a British hairdresser girlfriend and their three-year-old daughter, was identified then as a convicted rapist by Portuguese press. He was sentenced to five years in jail in 1996 for raping his British teenage victim in Praia da Luz in 1995.

Marques threatened reporters with a gun outside his Algarve farm in January 2008.

Looking dishevelled yesterday, he threw a punch at a cameraman as he left a police station in Faro.

As he returned after a quick lunch, he threw a bottle of water at another.

Police yesterday also talked to Mario Marreiros, 48, the former laundryman at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was staying. He was also treated as a witness by police.

He revealed last year how he told police he saw a man wearing sunglasses lurking in a stairwell near her apartment 24 hours before she vanished.He told a newspaper he had never been spoken to by British police and insisted: “My theory is that guy must have been involved.”

Twice-divorced Mario, who lives near Praia, blamed a secrecy order imposed by a Portuguese judge for preventing him from speaking sooner.

The potential suspect he identified is understood to have been ruled out after turning out to be a tourist.

A third unidentified man interviewed by police refused to talk to reporters as he arrived at Faro Police Station.

The interviews arranged for this week, following a fifth international letter of request from Britain, are the first since four men were quizzed as “arguidos”, or persons of interest, at the start of July.

British police believe Madeleine was snatched during a bungled burglary.

They have reportedly supplied over 250 questions for the Portuguese authorities to ask the 11 witnesses. Parts of the resort were dug up in June at Scotland Yard’s request. However, the dig failed to yield any clues.

The British investigation, with officers from Scotland Yard led by DCI Andy Redwood, is understood to have so far cost around £8million. DCI Nicola Wall, from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command Unit, will lead the investigation when Mr Redwood retires on December 22.

It may seem impertinent but would DCI's Redwood and Wall like to first start with the Tapa's 7/9 statements,perhaps they may look at the deliberate misinformation given by dubious person's into the disappearance, oh I forgot these people are not suspects,Bernard Hogan Howe, ask the DCI's why they are excluded?

With the final allegation taking place today, at Palácio da Justiça, in Lisbon, it's coming to an end the process of the alleged complain for defamation made by the McCann, Maddie's parents, against Gonçalo Amaral, in which the McCann couple asks for a millionaire compensation from the former PJ coordinator.

To our readers, there seems some confusion as to who denounced Marques to the authorities.

This is article may have caused people to believe it was Malinka's ex who did the denouncing, but that's the first sentence. Please read on and see that it's the ex of Malinka's PARTNER- who we believe means his business partner:

“The man whose face is similar to the photo-fit made from a testimony of a tourist [Gail Cooper?] who spent holidays at Praia da Luz, in April, shortly before Madeleine McCann has disappeared, was denounced to the Judicial Police (PJ) by an ex - British girlfriend of a former partner of Sergey Malinka, the Russian which is one of the witnesses of the case, discovered the DN.”http://joana-morais.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/photo-fit-suspect-saga.html?m=1

People who haven't read in detail files won't know Matthew Fazackerley was his business partner.

Kelsie Harris points the finger at Malinka in 2007, accusing him of stealing money and of wanting to have sex with a minor:“11. Around one year ago, she remembers him telling that he was caught by the father of a 14-year-old young girl, when he was having sexual relations with her;”

Kelsie Harris, and not Malinka’s ex-girlfriend, is, in our opinion, the common link between Malinka and Marques.

Kelsie Harris , seems to be also the person who overheard the comment “why did you bring her here? Now we will have to dispose of the body”. According to the Express “the woman gave an interview to Portuguese detectives 13 days after the disappearance but the report on the informal interview does not mention her overhearing a conversation about disposing of a body.”http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/488487/EXCLUSIVE-Potential-key-witness-McCann-case

About Laundryman, and his importance to the case, said he told the police last year about lurking sunglasses man in the stairwell.

Maybe the reason why Neil Berry was questioned about being in the stairwell in 2008?

I believe that all these men seen hanging around the area were NOT waiting to 'abduct' a 3-year-old girl, they were waiting for their turn to be called into the apartment for 'swinging activities' with whichever females were therein awaiting their presence.

I'm a bit confused about the laundryman Textusa because in his original statement on 08/05/2007 he states he finished work at 6pm and went home and that "He does not know of anything suspicious that could be related to the events". He subsequently, to the Mirror newspaper in 2013 I think, said he'd seen Sunglassesman in the stairwell at 7.30pm to 8pm.

I assumed he was lying and just creating a bogus suspect (to distract from the McCann's) to be honest.

“When questioned about the day of the disappearance (03 May 2007) of the girl whose name he does not remember, he says he carried out his normal routine, arriving at his place of work at about 10.00, with a lunch break from 13.00 to 14.30, returning to work until 18.00. After work he returned home where he stayed with his wife until 21.30 when he went alone by car to Barao de Sao Joao, where his step son works.”(…)“He does not know of anything suspicious that could be related to the events.”http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARIO_MARREIROS.htm

On May May 29, 2013 00:00 he says:

“Mario Fernando, 47, told Portuguese cops about the “weird” stranger lurking at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz but has never been quizzed by British police or spoken publicly.”(…)“Mario recalls a “nervous” man wearing big sunglasses hiding in a stairwell seconds away from the holiday apartment where parents Gerry and Kate were staying with their three children.The laundryman is convinced the lurker was involved in the kidnap.”(…)“He said: “I was at my last collection point near the girl’s flat. I was always rushing. I’d park the van any-where."It was 7.30pm to 8pm. When cleaners cleared sheets they dropped them down the hole in the stairs to be collected by me at the bottom.“When I walked down and turned into the hole to get the laundry, I saw the weird guy and we nearly bumped into each other. He was embarrassed. He looked nervous.“He was walking out from the hole under the stairs and must have been much further inside but had taken several steps after hearing me coming. We were, like, dodging each other.“He had a really fat face and had two-tone sunglasses on, they got lighter at the bottom and were big. I will never forget those glasses.“There was no reason for him to be there and no reason to wear the glasses as it was dark under the stairs.”http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/madeleine-mccann-witness-saw-weird-1918572

Neil Berry says this:

“With regard to where I was at 18.00, whom I was with and the fact that I was seen by a witness at this time next to stairs and lift of block 5 of the Ocean Club:I am not certain where I was at 18.00. It is possible that I was already in my apartment or returning from the bar. In order to arrive at my apartment I would walk along the side of the pool, crossing the stairs of block 4. If I were with someone, this person would be Raj [Balu]”http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/NEIL_BERRY.htm

According to Berry, someone did see him there at around 18.00-Fact is both Neil Berry and Raj Balu were swabbed for DNA.

It seems Robert Murat has thrown today a spanner into the questioning by the legal issue raised by the supposed Murat has already been questioned as an arguido on exact same issues by PJ

In our opinion, he hasn’t thrown any spanner. Not even a toothpick.

We don’t know any circumstances whereby one can walk in as a “witness with option to become arguido”, so we have yet to know if he walked in PJ today, 10DEC2014, as an arguido or as a witness.

When one is notified to be questioned by the authorities, it has to be clearly stated if one is a witness or if one is an arguido. There are no options or foreseeable circumstances.

The fact that Murat showed up with a lawyer, doesn’t mean he was notified as an arguido because in Portugal a witness is entitled to have a lawyer present during the questioning.

What may have happened, and this is pure speculation, was that Murat although notified that he had the legal status of witness, his lawyer on hearing a question he considered incriminatory to his client, decided to interrupt the session and demanded that he be given the status of arguido, thus protecting his rights.

If that happened, and we’re not saying it did, it wouldn’t be the exercising the “option” of transforming a witness into an arguido but would only reflect the total incompetency on the part of whoever notified him to be a witness. He should have been called in as an arguido in the first place.

It’s a fact that Murat has already been an arguido in a case that ran terms in Portugal, under a Portuguese investigation by the PJ.

In UK, only exceptional circumstances can you be tried for second time. In Portugal, it’s a fact that no one can be accused for the same crime twice.

But is being arguido the same of being accused?

In our opinion, it’s not.

Murat was never accused of anything in Portugal pertaining the Maddie case. If he had been, the process would have continued to trial and not be archived.

As far as we know his arguido status, just like with the McCanns, was lifted because the process was archived in 2008, waiting new evidence. If new evidence found then process resumed, or reopened, and we see no reason for arguido status not to be resumed also, if such a decision was to be taken.

Being an arguido is to be a suspect. Suspect of doing something. A suspect has no limit on being re-questioned especially if new questions are put.

But where the argument is absolutely invalid is in the fact that even if he’s been notified as an arguido, it’s the FIRST time he is an arguido in this particular process.

As far as we know, this is the first time he’s being considered a person of interest, suspect, arguido, by SY in Maddie’s case.

Isn’t this questioning the result of an authorised request made by SY via rogatory letter?

This process is Operation Grange, not anything to do with the process ongoing in Portugal.

Yes, it’s a Portuguese legal technicality to give him the legal status of arguido (potential suspect not yet charged). SY has no jurisdiction in Portugal to do that but the investigation running terms with these questionings is the British one and not the one Portugal reopened in 2013 and in which Murat was indeed an arguido back in 2007/2008.

Pictured: Former Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat and his wife at Portuguese police station after being re-interviewed by Scotland Yard over girl's disappearance

Robert Murat arrived at an Algarve police station this morningFormer suspect driven into Faro Police Station through a back entrance He was accompanied by his German-born wife, Michaela Walczuch Murat is not suspected of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance He was called in on the second day of Scotland Yard interviews

Former suspect Robert Murat arrived at an Algarve police station this morning to be questioned over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The IT consultant, 41, was driven into Faro Police Station through a back entrance just before 9.30am along with his German-born wife Michaela Walczuch, 38, and his lawyer Francisco Pagarete. None made any comment.

Mr Murat, who is not suspected of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, was called in with his wife on the second day of a fresh round of police interviews requested by Scotland Yard detectives. Both were due to be questioned as witnesses.

The British expat, made a formal suspect or arguido days after Madeleine went missing on May 3 2007 before being cleared a year later, said before his new police quiz he was happy to cooperate.

Speaking last month before he received his official notification, he said: 'My conscience is clear and I have no problem speaking to police again.' Michaela, Mr Murat's girlfriend when Madeleine vanished, was questioned three times as a witness after the youngster's disappearance.

A Portuguese lorry driver later came forward to say he had seen a blonde woman he said resembled estate agent Michaela passing a blanket containing a child to a man on an Algarve farm the day after Madeleine vanished.

A Spanish woman also claimed she had spotted her in a town in northern Morocco in June 2007, moments after she had seen a girl who looked just like Madeleine.

Michaela, whose home was searched by Portuguese police after Madeleine disappeared, complained of being treated like dirt by detectives and claimed Kate and Gerry McCann's former detective agency Metodo 3 had cynically used her.

Protesting her innocence in a December 2007 interview with a UK newspaper, she said: 'I lost my faith not just in justice but in the whole system and everyone that supports it.

'The worst part is people putting me in this, knowing I have nothing to do with it.

'They have no feelings, no heart. They are completely empty.

'When Robert called me to tell me that there was a story about these sightings I went into town and I just saw my face on the front of all the papers. I felt sick.' Silvia Batista, who ran the service and maintenance departments at the Ocean Club holiday complex where Madeleine was staying with her parents, was the first person to turn up for questioning this morning.

Mrs Batista, one of 11 people due to be questioned this week as witnesses, was one of the first people on the scene after being alerted to Madeleine's disappearance.

She told police she found the youngster's heart specialist dad Gerry 'hitting the floor with both hands' and 'screaming with anger' when she reached apartment 5A where Madeleine had been sleeping with twin siblings Sean and Amelie.

She also said Gerry told her he had closed the windows of their bedroom - open when Madeleine's disappearance was discovered - because the twins, then 18 months, were still asleep in separate cots.

The police quizzes taking place this week are the first since four men were questioned as arguidos at the start of July.

All four - who included Russian businessman Sergey Malinka and a schizophrenic heroin addict - insisted they had nothing to do with Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Three men including rapist pig farmer Joaquim Jose Marques were questioned yesterday as witnesses.

Three more people are due to be questioned tomorrow as witnesses on the last day of the police interviews.

Portuguese police are interviewing the Portuguese and British nationals on behalf of Scotland Yard.

In theory any of the witnesses be made formal suspects at any time, at their request or on the recommendations of police.

Arguido status gives them a greater level of legal protection and means they have to be quizzed in the presence of a lawyer and can refuse to answer questions.

Respected Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported today that the British wife of one of the witnesses has already been questioned in the UK.

British police believe Madeleine was killed during a bungled burglary, a theory their Portuguese counterparts who are conducting their own parallel investigation into Madeleine's disappearance have privately rubbished.

Parts of the Praia da Luz resort where the youngster vanished were dug up in June at Scotland Yard's request in a grim search for her body - but failed to yield any clues.

DCI Nicola Wall, from the Met Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command Unit, will take charge of the British police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance from Andy Redwood on December 22 when he retires.

She is expected to fly to the Algarve later this week to meet Portuguese police chiefs and get a briefing on Friday on how the week's interviews have gone.

Final arguments in the €1 milion case for defamation brought five years ago by the parents of Madeleine McCann against former PJ policeman Gonçalo Amaral were being heard in court in Lisbon on Wednesday morning.

The judge’s decision on the case is expected to come in February.

Amaral told newspapers this week that throughout the trial the McCanns have “tried to pass off the idea that what is being judged is their innocence”.

“Legally, this is not at issue at all,” he told Jornal de Notícias this week. “What is at issue is the lawfulness or unlawfulness of the book I wrote and, if so, whether it is possible to establish a causality link between the book and the possible damages they allege to have suffered.”

As the spotlight once again shifted to Amaral’s book “A Verdade da Mentira (The Truth of the Lie)” in Lisbon, miles south in the Algarve a new selection of key witnesses prepared for a day of questioning by visiting Met detectives working on Operation Grange (see stories: http://portugalresident.com/madeleine-witness-identities-%E2%80%9Creveal... and http://portugalresident.com/ugly-scenes-mark-first-day-of-new-madeleine-...)

As the Met’s Operation Grange flew back to the Algarve to re-interview 11 people connected to the Madeleine inquiry, a website threw a spanner in the works by revealing everybody’s identity.

The reason given by the Blacksmith Bureau was that “since May 4 2007” “from the BBC down to the Daily Star” the “joint rule” has always been that mainstream media decides “which names” and “which information is to be released”.

The no-holds-barred blog site claims it “published the list on behalf of the public who are paying ten million pounds for the (Operation Grange) investigation” which, thus far, seems only to be re-interviewing people long ago discounted from the original PJ inquiry.

Nonetheless, by publishing the list, people on it preparing to travel to Faro for yet another police grilling felt their privacy had been invaded.

“The fact that the Met cannot stop leaks like this from happening says a great deal about this investigation,” one of the 11 told the Resident at the weekend.

“I cannot really comment. One day I would love to break my silence,” the Luz businesswoman added. “But for now, we will just have to play our part. If the police want to ask us questions all over again, we will just have to go along with them.”

The British woman who agreed she and her husband were “thoroughly fed up” with the whole “awful mystery”, added that she feared the Madeleine inquiry “might never get to the truth”.

It’s a frustration felt by almost all the others, including local character “Quim Zé” Marques who actually lashed out at TV cameras after he had endured a six-hour interrogation on Tuesday.

“Quim Zé” rose to notoriety in the early days of the inquiry after threatening newsmen with a gun and because he has a prison record for the rape of a British tourist in 1996.

But PJ police accepted that he has a cast-iron alibi for the night Madeleine was reported to have gone missing and, as the man himself has always affirmed, “the whole thing is nonsense”.

It is also a process that marked the handover of the Met’s investigation to Grange’s "new broom" - former head of Homicide and Major Crime Command Nicola Wall.

As the Resident reported last week on our website (portugalresident.com), Wall comes with a sterling record in cracking multiple cases.

Her appointment to the long-running investigation comes in the same week that the libel trial instigated by Madeleine’s parents against former PJ detective Gonçalo Amaral reconvened in Lisbon (see panel). It also precedes the reopening next week of the inquest into the death of British grandmother Brenda Leyland, ‘outed’ for her so-called “trolling” of the McCann parents on the internet.

According to mainstream media, among the people to be seen are Robert Murat - the first defendant named in the original investigation, long-since released from suspicion by the PJ - his wife, Michaela, and another British man - again long-ago released from any suspicion and originally identified as a person of interest by a 12-year-old.

As Met detectives embarked on the busy week, newspapers in Portugal made much of the fact that for the first time the Madeleine investigation is in the hands of five women, four Portuguese and one Brit (incoming Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall).

The Portuguese women in the frame are Attorney General Joana Marques Vidal, Portimão public prosecutor Inês Sequeira, Portimão PJ chief Ana Paula Rito and Helena Monteiro, the Porto PJ detective in charge of the Madeleine investigation in Portugal.

The only man left in a position of authority in the inquiry is Faro PJ chief Luís Mota Carmo.

McCann defamation

Final arguments in the €1 million case for defamation brought five years ago by the parents of Madeleine McCann against former PJ policeman Gonçalo Amaral were being heard in court in Lisbon on Wednesday morning. The judge’s decision on the case is expected to come in February. Amaral told newspapers this week that throughout the trial the McCanns have “tried to pass off the idea that what is being judged is their innocence”.

Astro: From the Court house McCann V Amaral Wednesday 10 December 2014

All in all it went very well, in my opinion. Some excellent points were made by the defence lawyers after Dr Ricardo spoke for almost two hours.

But first, a little detail that escaped me until today: Isabel Duarte is the lawyer for the McCann couple while Dr Ricardo is the lawyer for the children.

What does this mean? It means that we were going to be subject to allegations by Isabel for 1.5 hours and allegations by Ricardo for another 1.5 hours.

Isabel wasn't able to attend today's session, which means we only had to go through one half speeches. Still, Ricardo had to cut his allegations short by what I estimate was one-third as he ran out of time and the judge had to cut him short.

We got a different court room today, not the usual one. This one was less freezing... And on the wall, just above the judge, this quote: "A injustiça feita a um é ameaça para todos". Injustice done to one [person] is a threat to everyone.

The next session takes place on the 21st of January 2015.

It will serve the purpose of the judge reading out what has been established as "matéria de facto" by the court. So potentially we may sense from what she will see as proved, or not, where the verdict may be going. But it will be only speculation... although I foresee an interesting discussion afterwards.

Then we start counting 30 days that the McCanns have to produce the document from the High Court judge in London that will certify that they are allowed to represent Madeleine. We think that although they may have the document already, they will let this period run to the end to gain time. But of course they could produce the document before the 30 days run out.

Then all lawyers have 10 days to hand in their "alegações de direito" which are written allegations about specific aspects of the law, as for example if the book's existence is illegal or not. And this potentially brings us to early March. So potentially we may have a verdict in March... or later.

If they don't produce the document that enables them to represent Madeleine, only the part of the case that relates to her is thrown out. Everything else goes on.

Former Madeleine McCann police chief ‘earned hundreds of thousands from writing distortions and conspiracy theories’ in book about case

Ex officer 'earned £344k' from book and TV show about the Madeleine caseGoncalo Amaral, 56, wrote 'lies' about the case, a Lisbon court heardMcCanns are suing Mr Amaral for £1m over his book The Truth Of The Lie

The ex-police officer who bungled the Madeleine McCann investigation made a fortune by spinning a web of lies about the case, a court heard today.

Goncalo Amaral, 56, earned at least £344,000 from his book and TV documentary about Madeleine's disappearance, it was said.

Amaral wrote 'distortions', 'fallacies', 'supposition' and 'a web of conspiracy theories' about the investigation, a libel trial in Lisbon was told.

Ricardo Correia Afonso, representing Kate and Gerry McCann, told the court: 'What he published distorted the facts, and as a result the parents were judged and sentenced by public opinion.

'His book is written like a novel and that's exactly what it is. The book and the DVD were produced to convince whoever saw or read them that the parents are guilty.'

Mr Correia Afonso said the ex-detective made £270,000 from sales of his book in Portugal and £18,000 from sales abroad.

He earned £26,000 from the broadcasting of the documentary, watched by 2.2m viewers in April 2009, and another £28,000 from sales of a DVD.

The book is still on sale in some Portuguese bookshops despite being out of print, he said.

And Mr Amaral has continued to publicly repeat the central claims in the book - that Madeleine died in the family's rented holiday apartment in the Algarve in May 2007 and that her parents covered up her death.

The former head of the Madeleine investigation gave an interview in June this year in which he 'had no problem stating that the parents of the child are the only guilty parties', the lawyer said.

Mr Amaral even told a Portuguese newspaper a theory that Madeleine had been buried in a coffin alongside a dead women in a church in the resort of Praia da Luz, the court was told.

Mr Amaral's discredited theories on Madeleine's disappearance have been widely repeated in newspapers in Portugal and around the world including Brazil and Spain, he said.

The McCanns are suing Mr Amaral for £1m over his book The Truth Of The Lie and the accompanying documentary.

Mr Amaral told a Portuguese newspaper a theory that Madeleine (pictured) had been buried in a coffin alongside a dead women in a church in the resort of Praia da Luz, the court was told

He was thrown off the investigation in 2007 after criticising British police officers involved in the search for Madeleine.

In July the McCanns, both 46-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leicsestershire, told the court at the Palace of Justice in Lisbon that they had been 'devastated and crushed' by the book about their daughter, who was days short of her fourth birthday when she disappeared.

But Miguel Cruz Rodrigues, for Mr Amaral, said the McCanns were suing 'to rid themselves of guilt for their negligent conduct and their conduct in relation to the investigation.

He added: 'There was a lack of cooperation with the police authorities.

'That lack of cooperation led to the archiving of the investigation.'

Responding to claims the book had caused the McCanns insomnia, lack of appetite and depression, he said: 'The crux of this case is these were not caused by Goncalo Amaral's book, but rather they were caused by the fact the McCanns will feel guilty all their lives for not looking after their children.'

Fatima de Oliveira Esteves, representing publisher Guerra e Paz, admitted that Mr Amaral 'appeared to have invented' much of the book.

But she added: 'The fact is those children were left alone and because of that fact one of them disappeared.

'Anxiety and depression were caused by the disappearance of the child, not because of the book.'

And Miguel Coroadinha, representing TVI, which broadcast the documentary, said the McCanns 'want us to hear only a single version of the facts, which is their version'.

He added: 'Freedom of expression and thought is one of our fundamental rights.'

Judge Maria de Melo e Castro said the court will convene on January 21 to discuss which facts have been proved. She is expected to defer judgment until February.

If RM was happy to assist, as he said earlier, why would he refuse to answer any questions put to him, if it could help to establish what happened, even if simply to repeat what he had already said and then answer NO to the 2 Big Questions? How difficult is that if you have no involvement?Why try to evade being questioned on a technicality of previous arguido status?He could then announce to the world" I answered all their questions, including the Big Questions. I told them I had no involvement in anything to do with M's disappearance nor anything to add to my original statements. I wish the family closure on this matter and hope that SY are successful in their investigation. I am pleased I could help by clarifying my position."That would end speculation and gain sympathy for his ordeal.But he didn't!

in reply to the person asking why RM didn't answer the PJ, SY questions, the only pertinent answer his lawyer or himself should have given to the Officers asking the questions in a response to Operation Grange's investigation/ RemitWhy have you not asked the last person's to have seen the missing child alive the same questions as you are requesting answers to from the person's of interest list?Oh silly me DCI Redwood has said there not suspects, why has he stated this?

The behaviour of a Brazilian couple who were seen acting suspiciously around the time of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is now being re-examined by Portuguese police.

Published: 00:01, Sun, December 14, 2014By James Murray

After British detectives sat in on interviews in Faro with witnesses last week, the Sunday Express can reveal Policia Judiciaria co-ordinator Ana Paula Rito is taking a broader look at leads which may not have been fully pursued.

She is now keen to learn more about the Brazilian couple, who are said to have expressed a strong desire to have a child when they were in the ­Algarve in May 2007 when Madeleine vanished.

A few days after Madeleine vanished from flat 5a of the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, a British man came forward with his concerns about the couple and was interviewed by Portuguese detectives.

On the night of the abduction the man was closing his video rental shop just a few streets away from the apartment.

At 10.45pm, 45 minutes after Kate McCann had discovered that her daughter was missing, he noticed the Brazilian woman, aged about 25, driving past his shop in a red car.

He told police there was a dog in the front seat and the woman driver kept looking at something on the back seat which he could not see.

Her partner, a bald Brazilian man in his early 40s, had worked on a local farm but was fired after some machinery was damaged and later worked at Lagos marina, about four miles from Luz doing boat ­repair work.

The couple, who were staying on a yacht at the marina left shortly after the disappearance and have not been seen again.

A dark-haired woman seen hanging around the apartment at 8pm on the night Madeleine vanished has never been identified or traced.

On Friday expatriate British businessman Robert Murat was ­re-interviewed for several hours, the last of 10 witnesses to be seen.

In the sequence of information received by this Policia Judiciaria on this date, at around 11H40, we went to the Video Club 'Eureka Services", located in Praia da Luz - Lagos, in order to contact Mr. S**** R******, the owner of the establishment.'Following an informal conversation, we were informed by that individual that he had remembered that on the previous Thursday, 3rd May, 2007, at the time he was closing up his shop, around 22h45, a small vehicle, whose make, model and number plate he does not remember, the only identifying element he captured was the colour of the vehicle'a dull red, almost as if the colour has been burnt off, sic, due to prolonged exposure to sunlight. Inside the vehicle, he could only make out the presence of one person, as well as a dog in the front passenger's seat.'At the moment that said vehicle passed him, he observed that the driver was looking towards the back seat . Mr R***** affirms that he did not have, at that time, the opportunity to determine what was in the back of the car.'When questioned, he further noted that he recognised the identity of the driver, indicating that it was a female, of Brazilian nationality, 1,70 cm in height, 25/26 years of age, slim with lightly coloured skin. He even added her name, S*** S***** because she and her partner had previously worked at his parents' farm. 'Due to minor arguments caused by the misuse of tools, involving mainly the woman's companion identified as E***** S*****, the latter, also of Brazilian nationality, and Mr. R*****, effectively came to blows, and the services of the couple were concluded.'He adds that some of the physical aggressions he suffered in Marina de Lagos, had required help from the local police;'After the couple were fired, he found out that they went to work in the Marina de Lagos, in the area of repairs/maintenance of boats, and more concretely, for a boat which was moored there and that they it as their residence. He furthers that it was a catamaran of high dimensions with the name "TROPICS";'Another individual called R***** also worked in that place with the couple. R*****'s telephone number is xxxxxxxxx, and he may help in determining other elements;'He only remembered the episode at this point, because in making some associations, given the disappearance of the child, it reminded of him of this couple who mentioned that they had an exceptional desire to have a child of their own;'After the facts occurred, he also stated that they had left Marina de Lagos, as the vessel was no longer found in that place.

When questioned about the physical characteristics of E**** S*****, he identified him as being bald, with a strong build, around 1,70 m in height, dark skin tone and around 42 years of age.

The new article about the childless couple is beyond ridiculous. One reason alone makes this so. The CHILDLESS couple by pass TWO, almost babies, to steal a child of almost 4.A child with memories formed and with the ability to remember those memories. No way. No way, no way, no way. You'd take a baby. Even age 2 is a risk. Age almost 4 is beyond ridiculous. They entered the apartment somehow, looked at the three supposedly sleeping alone toddlers and took the BIGGEST and OLDEST one? I'm not buying it. Not even at a reduced rate of 1p!!

Mnn yes, and left behind cadaver odour behind couch, on Kate's clothes, in the wardrobe and blood splashes on walls. They then used a hired car to do the same, returned it sometime, and, hey presto! - the McCanns happen to hire it later. They of course stock it with rotten food, sea bass and dirty nappies - to explain the cadaver scent, don't you know... :)

Family of Ben Needham to sue Home Office over lack of funding sought for their son...

http://linkis.com/bit.ly/ODtyW

...and I hope they don't cave in and actually take the HO to court, because there must be a reason why the HO will spend £10m on McCann but when the Needham's asked for thousands they are are ignored...given the fact that McCann has their own private company full of cash that is meant to be used to look for their daughter...

The TV reporter who confronted a woman believed to have sent more than 4,000 abusive tweets about the parents of missing youngster Madeleine McCann is to give evidence at her inquest.

Martin Brunt, crime correspondent at Sky News, is to be called as a witness at the inquest into the death of Brenda Katheryn Gabrielle Leyland, of Burton Overy, who was found dead in a room at the Leicester Marriott Hotel in Enderby on October 4.

Mr Brunt questioned Ms Leyland, 63, at her home on Thursday October 2.

At a pre-inquest review at Leicester town hall today coroner Catherine Mason said that Mr Brunt and Jonathan Levy, director of news gathering operations at Sky News, would be called to give evidence.

She said: “I understand from my officers that of all of the witnesses to be called to give oral evidence there is nobody who will have any criminal action taken against them.”

Mrs Mason heard that the police investigation into circumstances surrounding the death of Ms Leyland had been completed.

Ms Leyland, a mother-of-two, was named on national television on October 4 as an internet troll accused of targeting Kate and Gerry McCann with vile messages on Twitter.

Her tweets included accusations the Rothley couple were involved in their daughter’s disappearance.

Posting on Twitter under the pseudonym @Sweepyface, her messages included: “I ‘hate’ cruelty, liars, those who profit from another’s tragedy, ergo my ‘hate for Kate and Gerry’ is justified.”

Another post read: “To Kate and Gerry, you will be hated by millions for the rest of your miserable, evil, conniving lives, have a nice day!”

Mrs Mason had opened an inquest into Ms Leyland’s death on October 8.

That hearing was told that the cause of her death had not yet been determined. It was not revealed at today’s hearing.

Sergeant Kevin Taylor, of Braunstone police station, was the first officer on the scene and found Ms Leyland’s body.

Giving evidence at the first hearing, he said her body had been taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary on Sunday and formally identified by one of her sons Michael Leyland.

Sgt Taylor confirmed a postmortem examination had taken place but no cause of death had been determined.

Mrs Mason asked if foul play had been involved, to which Sgt Taylor replied: “There did not appear to be. No.”

Sgt Taylor is to be called to give evidence at the full inquest.

The inquest will also hear from Ben Leyland, one of Ms Leyland’s sons.

Mrs Mason said that Ms Leyland had been in touch with her son Ben, who lives in Los Angeles, prior to her death.

The full inquest, which will not feature a jury, is to be held at Leicester town hall on March 20.

Two Sky News journalists will be called as witnesses at an inquest into the death of an alleged internet "troll" accused of abusing Madeleine McCann's parents.

A pre-inquest hearing was told that no-one is facing any criminal action over the death of Brenda Leyland, whose body was found in a hotel room after she featured in a Sky News report.

Confirming details of a full inquest due to take place next year, Leicester Coroner Catherine Mason said she would hear evidence from Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt and Head of Newsgathering Jonathan Levy.

Two police officers, a toxicologist and a doctor are also due to give oral evidence at the one-day hearing on March 20.

Adjourning the pre-inquest, Mrs Mason said she would be presented with written statements from a pathologist and one of Mrs Leyland's sons at the next hearing.

Sky News was represented by counsel at the pre-inquest, which heard that officers from Leicestershire Police have completed their inquiries into the 63-year-old's death.

Mrs Mason told Leicester Coroner's Court: "I understand from my officers that, of all the witnesses who I have said that I will call to give oral evidence, there is no nobody to which there is any foreseeability of any criminal action being taken."

The body of Mrs Leyland was discovered at the Marriott Hotel in Enderby, Leicester, in October, two days after a Sky News report exposing internet "trolling" of Kate and Gerry McCann.

Mrs Leyland, from Burton Overy, Leicestershire, is reported to have posted thousands of messages on Twitter attacking the McCanns, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in 2007.

The inquest into the death of a woman accused of "trolling" the McCanns will hear evidence from two Sky journalists.

Brenda Leyland, from Leicestershire, was found dead in a hotel days after she was confronted over tweets about the family of Madeleine McCann.

A pre-inquest review was told it will hear evidence from a toxicology expert, police and the Sky News journalists.

The coroner said no criminal action was planned against any witnesses and adjourned the hearing until March.

Mrs Leyland, from Burton Overy, was confronted in October by Martin Brunt from Sky News over her use of Twitter.

He questioned her about hate-filled messages about the McCanns on the social networking site.

The 63-year-old was found dead in a hotel several days later.

Mr Brunt, the crime correspondent, and Sky's head of newsgathering Jonathan Levy will both give evidence at her inquest.

Leicester Coroner Catherine Mason said: "I understand from my officers that, of all the witnesses who I have said that I will call to give oral evidence, there is nobody to which there is any foreseeability of any criminal action being taken."

Sky News's legal team attended the short hearing in Leicester, which was adjourned for the full inquest on 20 March.

The inquest will also hear written evidence from one of Mrs Leyland's sons and a pathologist.

Madeleine went missing while the Leicestershire family were on holiday in Portugal in 2007.

SKY News reporter Martin Brunt will not face criminal charges following the suspected suicide of a Madeleine McCann troll he exposed on TV.

By Jerry Lawton / Published 18th December 2014

Brenda Leyland, 63, was found dead in a hotel room from a suspected drug overdose three days after being unmasked as one of dozens of online ghouls who had posted sick messages about the missing girl’s doctor parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 46.

She had called the couple the "worst of humankind" and tweeted they should "suffer" for the "rest of their miserable lives".

It was revealed Mr Brunt, 59, would not face any criminal action over his investigation.

Both he and Sky’s director of news gathering and operations Jonathan Levy would be called to give evidence at Mrs Leyland’s inquest next year.

Mrs Leyland’s son Ben, 30, is expected to give a written statement.

Coroner Catherine Mason told a pre-hearing at Leicester Town Hall: "I understand from my officers that from all the witnesses I intend to hear evidence from there is nobody that there is any foreseeable plan of criminal action being taken against."

There will be no jury at the inquest which is expected to last less than a day.

The then three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007 while her parents dined with pals in a nearby tapas bar.

A near four-year probe by the Metropolitan Police to find what happened to her has so far cost taxpayers nearly £10m and is on-going.

Well, if one believes that a Home Secretary (JO =Jacqui Smith, OH, Home Office) can find (or have them found) medical records, or any other kind of records for that matter, of a british child or adult or whatever, and just accepts the fact as if it is the most common thing and of no importance, then I suppose one can believe in fairies, and flying pigs, and toothed chicken! Is it normal for a 4 year old british child, born and raised in the UK, born from british parents, DOCTORS, NOT to have any medical records?! Oh dear...I thought that would only be possible in 3rd world countries...

It's easy not to believe Jacqui Smith because of the expenses scandal, and it suits some to have others believe it's a government cover-up, it goes right to the top and all and sundry are involved.

Many are involved, but not the whole government, ask her directly and if she's found to be telling anything but the truth, she can be subpoenaed to court and asked to prove herself.

Look at the people who spoke up for them and the people who were there, if it were a major government cover-up there wouldn't have been any need for a media carnival.

If I'm wrong and J. S. is lying then I will apologise Textusa, and if my response sounds a little curt it's not directed at you it is partially directed at the above playground response.

I just want to say that not every person in power is wholly corrupt, even if they have taken the biscuit with expenses and may have been somewhat out of their depth.

Records can be created and they can also be whooshed, the dates on the nannies passports are out of order, and not one of the sunbathers/ friends and family who quickly descended on Luz showed one scintilla of shock, they talked to the press and maundered around with balloons.

Mr Wright said he noticed some disagreeable smells, why would he say that?

Also, G's Myspace page has a completely disingenuous backstory, check out when he actually became a doctor, and this was put up as if written before the abduction, before the holiday.

The 100% reliable dogs keeps us stuck in the apartment, that week.

All in my opinion, and with respect to everyone who has different opinion.

Also Textusa, I forgot to say you can find the official CEOP launch date online, same for Mitchell, although last time I looked I couldn't find it. If you need more than that give me time over Christmas and I'll dig until I find it.

http://newsoutlines.blogspot.co.uk/p/british-foreign-office-timeline.html?m=1CEOP sent out by Foreign Office. I find that strange. It was online protection, not a kidnap unit and not part of SY.And Murat wasn't going to be offered the same support as Mcs, yet he is also a British subject.

“Tiffany VanAlstyne, who police said is Kenneth's cousin, called police Thursday and REPORTED THAT WHITE WAS ABDUCTED by two masked men, according to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple. That triggered a massive search and an Amber Alert that was canceled early Friday morning.”

I do think this is interesting news - particularly the timing. Who is distancing themselves from who? Why now? Although I dont really understand the exact nature of the relationship between MW / ocean Club and how it worked operationally in terms of staff. Also, I cant see much info on Luz Ocean Club in terms of director / ownership

We would like to express our agreement with the second part of the following comment on JH Forum, given that the first part quoted is from our blog:

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t2591-mark-warner-resort

“Hardly surprising really PeterMac Today at 4:12 pm

As we posted a long time ago

"PdL - What a place. Why does anyone holiday there? PdL - where families take it in turn to vomit each night, dog packs pursue and bite joggers, guests fall off catamarans, damage tendons playing tennis, have shaving accidents and stagger around apartments bleeding, domestic appliances need repair, shutters jam, baby monitors won't function at restaurants, travel cots can't be assembled.. sounds like THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED.

It's populated by black heroin addicts, people who rob apartments, gypsies who steal scrap and wood, scruffy moustachioed lurers of children, bogus charity collectors, suspicious street musicians, men lurking near phone booths, glasses man lurking in stairwells, blond men suspiciously lurking outside apartments, soothing couples entering apartments without permission, mysterious gangs of cleaners, men taking photographs of children on beaches... And to top it all, you have to queue for a table booking."

And since then we know, because the McCanns have told us, that the cleaners are not to be trusted, the gardeners are very suspect, the child minders and creche workers get sacked, the place teems with faceless men, or with men who look exactly like your own husband who every night cart abducted children round still in their pyjamas in the freezing cold, and dogs which cannot tell the difference between Sea Bass, dead piglets, and dirty nappies indicate the presence of death everywhere . . . (Oh, hang one, that's not QUITE correct, is it.)And to cap it all British Police officers turn up regularly with dogs and helicopters, and start digging in patches of rough ground, telling people they are looking for dead children !

They do, however, do a good line in free holidays, three months is the record so far. Just make a small complaint and it all happens automatically. It can be a simple complaint that someone went into your apartment which you can deliberately leave open, and you can even boast that "Nothing of Value was taken". That is quite enough for MW. They spring into action and grant your every wish. Even your whole family is invited, and His Excellency the Ambassador pops over for lunch every so often.”

Hot-on-the-heels of recent police interrogations centering on staff at the resort from which Madeleine went missing comes news that tour operator Mark Warner has dropped its contract with Praia da Luz’s Ocean Club resort.

In a statement on the Vacation Company’s website, the holiday company states: “We regret to inform you that Mark Warner no longer have a contract with the Ocean Club and therefore this property has been removed from their Summer 2015 programme with immediate effect”.

The decision comes at the end of a year where Luz residents have repeatedly spoken out against the stigma hanging over the holiday village that is forever being dragged back into the limelight as British police return again and again in their multi-million pound investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

As residents have frequently complained: “Luz is not being given a chance to recover” from the infamy of being the resort from which the world’s most famous missing person mysteriously vanished.

But almost no-one is prepared to go on record over the extent to which Madeleine’s disappearance has affected life and business in Praia da Luz.

It’s as if the stigma carries a threat that few are prepared to face-up to.

Only last month, Ocean Club manager Donna Hill told us: “I really cannot comment. One day I would love to break my silence”.

Bystanders following the seven-year mystery have commented: “It would be good to hear whether these people have been sworn to silence - and if so under what compulsion and by whom”.

But this Christmas restaurant owner David Jones went on record with the Resident, agreeing that Praia da Luz is “a shadow of its former self. You hardly see anyone on the streets at night now. In the old days, the place was buzzing at this time of year”, he told us.

Jones agreed the situation “probably has a lot to do with the Madeleine story”. He has his once thriving bar restaurant on the market now, but is not expecting a rush of would-be purchasers.

And while Donna Hill tell us she and her husband John are on holiday until January 5 and so “unable to comment” on this latest development and what it means for the future, the Mark Warner switchboard repeatedly pulled the plugs on our telephone calls to their offices in England. On the fifth attempt to talk to someone, we got an answer: “The contract is being taken over in its entirety by Thomas Cook” said a female operator, stressing that this was the only reason Mark Warner had dropped its involvement in Praia da Luz.

In 2009 however, the tour operator was reported to have issued a writ in the high court seeking compensation from its insurers for losses from “interrupted business” at the Ocean Club.

An article in the Guardian newspaper quoted a Mark Warner spokesman as saying: "It is a matter of public record that Mark Warner's bookings to Portugal were affected by events nearly two years ago, but the resort remains very popular and we are looking forward to resuming our summer operations there this May."

“The page you requested does not exist. For your convenience, a search was performed using the query madeleine new shock as tour operator drops infamous ocean club resort.”

and

“Oppsss! Sorry! The exact page you are looking for was moved or doesn't exist anymore! We have selected some suggestions related with your search, alternatively you can go to our Home page ! Thank You!”

We will leave up to readers to try and understand the reasons for this.

I think these records may be useful for those arguing on twitter about who phoned who and when. There are other phone records in Outros Apensos.There are some being mysterious about the info they supposedly and not giving links to material they're using, making it look like they have special info.

Once again we have been amazed this year by the support we continue to have for our search for Madeleine - and opening the hundreds of Christmas cards has once again been a truly humbling experience. The warmth, kindness and commitment to never forget has precipitated more than a few happy tears! Thank you.

It's hard to ignore that 'here we are again' feeling at this time of year, still with no idea where our daughter is or of what's happened. What we can say is that our resolve to find out, as well as the hope which has always been present, has not lessened. In addition it's very apparent that the determination of the Metropolitan Police remains steadfast, in spite of the persistent challenges they face.

No matter where she is, Madeleine will, as always, be very much with us and our family this Christmas.

Thank you for holding her in your hearts too.

Kate and Gerry

IMO - several things stand out from this message:'amazed' - might be the "in word" but this says "cheers easy"'happy tears' - they still have to qualify their sorrow, why?'determination of the Met Police' - why single out this one entity, what about the PJ et al?Lastly, not that humble to just wish supporters a merry xmas!

They don't praise/thank the PJ as well for their efforts in "finding" Madeleine because they have already stated what they feel about the portuguese police in this bit of the message:..."the Metropolitan Police remains steadfast, in spite of the persistent challenges they face.""the challenges" are the PJ !

A room filled with 7 years of birthday and Christmas presents made me shudder. How can anyone, including those who believe M will return, think this is normal or healthy?And the effect on the twins? As if a traumatised child would return and demand to open presents!

Calls for new child grooming law to ban online vigilante ‘paedophile hunters’

A TD and child protection expert are calling for the legislation to ban vigilante ‘paedophile hunters’.Sun 7:45 AM

JUSTICE MINISTER Frances Fitzgerald has faced calls for new legislation against online child grooming to ban vigilante groups from engaging in “sting” operations against paedophiles.

The heads of the Sexual Offences Bill, published last month, would make it an offence to travel to a place with the intention of meeting a child and sexually abusing them, after contacting them online or by phone.

While noting that the bill hadn’t yet been finalised, a Department of Justice spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that:

“It is enough that a person intended to meet a child for the purposes of sexual exploitation, regardless of whether they actually meet a child or otherwise.”

Although this detail may end up being interpreted by the courts, it would appear to allow for An Garda Síochána and international law enforcement agencies to engage in sting operations – posing as children in order to clamp down on paedophiles.

However, it also seems to open the door for ‘paedophile hunting’ vigilante groups, such as those which have emerged in the UK in recent years.

Groups and individuals such as Letzgo Hunting, Daemon Hunter, and Stinson Hunter pose as children – normally girls under the age of 15 – on chat sites, social media and instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

Jim Gamble, a renowned child protection expert, and former chief executive of the UK’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), told TheJournal.ie how the vigilante groups usually operate.

“They don’t even have to pose as a child who is “looking for sex.”It can start, for example, with a post on a modelling website, where someone appearing to be a young girl says “I’m 12 years old, and I’d like to get involved in modelling.””

Gamble says it only takes a matter of minutes for that “girl” to be inundated with responses from adult men, simply because of the age mentioned.

The next stage is “relationship building”, he says, where the men might exchange phone numbers with what they think is a 12-year-old girl, and try to bring the conversation into a more private sphere, where it’s harder to detect.

Offenders will then test the waters by sending sexually explicit messages or images of themselves, in order to gauge the response of the child.

The contact escalates, and a meeting is arranged, says Gamble, where vigilante groups challenge the offender in a public place, before posting their name, personal details, and a video of the confrontation online.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in the UK, however, has pleaded with vigilante groups to leave child protection to trained law enforcement.

“While these groups may often operate with the best of intentions, we do not encourage action of this kind, which can compromise ongoing investigations into paedophile networks, and could spark an abuser to further harm a child if they feel threatened,” Channel 4 News quotes an ACPO spokesperson as saying.

Police in the UK have also expressed a fear that vigilante groups could actually be infiltrated by by would-be child abusers.

For Jim Gamble, one major difficulty with vigilantism is the lack of “a suicide strategy.”

At least two men have taken their own lives after being exposed by a group calling itself Letzgo Hunting and Stinson Hunter – an English vigilante who leads an operation which was the subject of a controversial Channel 4 documentary in October.

“People may say, ‘Who cares if they kill themselves?’ Well, their families care, and they haven’t done anything wrong.”

Gamble also points out that the consequences of a vigilante sting operation which goes awry can be disastrous.

“These groups don’t have the ability to track the offender’s movements, they don’t always know where he lives, or if he works in a place where he has access to children.So if a motivated paedophile travels to a public park, let’s say, to meet a child, they may see a young girl sitting on a swing, and assume that it’s the girl they’ve arranged to meet.He could then grab that child, and you, as the vigilante, have lured him there in the first place.”

Gamble says he sympathises with the frustration that gives rise to vigilante groups, but that it is “fundamentally wrong.”

“I understand why some people become involved in vigilante behaviour when it comes to protecting children.Every day they read headlines about predators targeting and engaging with children, and it can be very frustrating.”

Actors such as Stinson Hunter have enormous popular support in the UK, and while police have criticised their operations, some have also used the videos and chat logs they gather as evidence leading to successful convictions.

For his part, Gamble proposes the formation of a “Citizens’ Army” of volunteers, recruited, vetted, trained and supported by An Garda Síochána to help them tackle child grooming and abuse.

He says Minister Fitzgerald’s legislation “contains a lot of positives”, and should be widely welcomed.

However, he told TheJournal.ie the bill should include two offences which would “turn the tables on predators and create a real, active deterrent.”

“First, it should be an offence for anyone aged over 18 to masquerade as a child online in order to talk to or meet children, even if there is no explicit language or imagery involved.Unless – they can prove a lawful purpose, for example an academic study or a piece of journalism.This shifts the burden of proof on to offenders, because proving sexual intent is often extremely difficult for law enforcement.Second, it should be an offence for anyone aged over 18 to masquerade as a child online, even if their purpose is to catch adult predators.”

This would ensure that only An Garda Síochána, agents of relevant state agencies, international law enforcement, or “duly authorised volunteers” would be able to engage in “sting” operations.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Sinn Féin spokesperson on justice, is calling for the new legislation to explicitly state that only An Garda Síochána can take part in sting operations against paedophiles.

“I’m very concerned that this would be done by people not trained, or delegated by society, to do it.The focus for the Minister, though, must be to give An Garda Síochána the IT equipment, and human resources that they need.We have to give the Gardaí every angle they need, and I hope we’ll be teasing through all this in the Justice Committee.”

First we would like to denounce this article as Gamble teaches would-be paedos on how to act:

"Gamble says it only takes a matter of minutes for that “girl” to be inundated with responses from adult men, simply because of the age mentioned.

The next stage is “relationship building”, he says, where the men might exchange phone numbers with what they think is a 12-year-old girl, and try to bring the conversation into a more private sphere, where it’s harder to detect.

Offenders will then test the waters by sending sexually explicit messages or images of themselves, in order to gauge the response of the child.

The contact escalates, and a meeting is arranged, says Gamble, where vigilante groups challenge the offender in a public place, before posting their name, personal details, and a video of the confrontation online."

This is, in our opinion, completely irresponsible on the part of Jim Gamble.

The man is stupid saying this! It should NEVER be legal to entrap a child for any reason.

"First, it should be an offence for anyone aged over 18 to masquerade as a child online in order to talk to or meet children, even if there is no explicit language or imagery involved.Unless – they can prove a lawful purpose, for example an academic study or a piece of journalism"

What sort of university or institute does a study that involves entraping a child?? And what sort of journalism???

What exactly is "a suicide strategy" ..? Sounds macabre and ironic, in context. Gamble is flogging his own agenda and his company (full of his ex-cop mates) to try and corner the market on child abuse. He sees his potential role schooling a 'lay team' to police the internet -- and make him, Gamble, rich and famous. The horror, the horror.

That man is not qualified to profile anyone either, just as MWT is not qualified to denigrate Portuguese forensics, but he had a go, didn't he!

Gamble was there on taxpayers money, it may take time but he will be dealt with, eventually.

Just as an aside, some years ago, I met some folks from the Liverpool neighbourhood, I asked a few questions and to cut a long story short I was told she (K.H.) would never leave him or that house because she can't.

It was followed by a curious and penetrating look... and then: " she will never leave that house, and she will never leave him."

So far they have been right, and seemingly, the French relocation rumour has turned out to be without validity; it has been an interesting year to have that little snippet whirring around though.

...and Mr Gamble, you supposedly 'expert' of child protection, paedophiles target BOYS as well as girls you ignorant little man...I expect that 'expert' in your case though means 'ex' as in has-been and the 'spurt' is a drip under pressure i.e. YOU

Textusa sorry to sound pessimistic but the remit of of Operation Grnage is to investigate an abduction and only that.Words from your No More Doubts post:

"Now, the phrase “It is to examine the case and seek to determine, (as if the abduction occurred in the UK)” is very, very clear.

There are no “ifs ” or “buts” about it. SY is investigating an ABDUCTION. That's their guideline on the issue.

If my memory serves me right, as of late 2007, the media, and everyone else, has been very careful to avoid the term “abduction”, rather replacing it with other more ambiguous, but truthful, terminology, such as vanished, missing, etc…

Now we have it in black & white. From SY itself. To say that in 2012, may be a blunder, but it isn't innocent.

The Met commissioner has resigned since this announcement. He did say the outcome may not be published. It doesn’t surprise me one bit.

All those of you that still had a glimmer of hope that the SY Review would bring some truth to the Maddie Affair, please be reasonable, do stop having it."

So it will always only be the abduction that SY can investigate. That and only that.

If one has the remit of investigating a drug-deal and stumbles on a homicide, does one leave homicide aside and concentrate solely on the drug-deal? Or if said drug-deal turns out to be a weapons-smuggling instead, does one say that one cannot investigate it because it isn’t what one has to conclude?

A remit doesn’t force a conclusion. It determines a focus, it shows in which direction the investigation has to follow. What happens after is what happens after as SY have, we’re certain, discovered the “hard” way.

Things change with time It was supposed to be £3 Million, now it’s already £10 Million.

The review was set up under very different circumstances. It was given this brief as it was originally supposed to be a whitewash with results not necessarily being made public.

We have since that post (http://textusa.blogspot.pt/2012/01/no-more-doubts.html) said that the whitewashing was indeed pursued by SY. We believe that initially it was THE only option they pursued. Thus the use of the term "abduction" and of the expression "the abduction" instead of "an abduction".

When whoever found out that the review was a big mistake that was made and went back to whoever was responsible for it and said something like “without a body it’s impossible to prosecute only the McCanns and their friends”, we're sure s/he heard back something like “well, then find a way to whitewash this whole thing!”.

We have explained, quite extensively, why we think a whitewashing has now ceased to be a stupid possiblity to become an impossible one. It's not optimism, it's simply being realistic.

Previous boss of SY, Sir Paul Robert Stephenson, was too close for comfort with the defunct NoW.http://powerbase.info/index.php/Paul_Stephenson_%28Police_Officer%29

Although apparently “Sir Paul said the final report would not be published” we think there’s no way results of all this spending not be made public now.http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-no-limits-to-probe-180425

And with each change, like Redwood to Wall, another set of people must agree to become complicit. It wouldn't be a secret for a small group as it's snowballing.

You are quite correct Textusa in saying that although SY may have a remit, if they uncover evidence of further offences then this will be followed through unless it is not in the public interest or there is no chance of a successful prosecution. Here lay the paradox, IMO in this case, Op Grange is being run by all intent and purpose by a murder team. I would expect them to conclude that whilst it may have been possible for MM to have been 'abducted' this can not be proven and unless they have found further evidence of death it will go nowhere, this is the only way they will justify a £10m spend. Further, IMO they key to this whole incident lays with David Payne, he and the Mc's have ALL the answers and the evidence for this is all in the PJ files.

A damning new “evidence-based” documentary is being prepared for screening in 2015 and promises to tell the “Untold Story of Madeleine McCann” - alleging that “no abduction took place at all”.

Orchestrated by independent journalist and social activist Sonia Poulton, the project got underway following the death of 63-year-old grandmother Brenda Leyland - the so-called internet “troll” “outed” over tweets that questioned the official version of events “as put forward by mainstream media”.

According to Poulton, Leyland wrote in a tweet last year that “should she die in odd circumstances” she hoped “people would question, and not just accept the first version of events”.

This is what Poulton claims has spurred her on. In a Christmas message posted on Youtube, the former broadcaster with Internet TV station The People’s Voice reveals her documentary should be ready by the end of March.

Poulton claims her investigation has already flagged up “plenty of evidence to suggest there was not an abduction”. Her focus, she explains, has been on “interviews with “central characters” in the disappearance.

“As you can imagine, these have not exactly been forthcoming”, she adds.

Thus, the decision to “door-step” those she believes have “questions to answer”.

This far Poulton claims to have door-stepped four key characters in the mystery, and she says her investigation has also “traced someone involved in the campaign” to maintain the official version of events, whose identity will “shock people”.

Poulton’s Christmas message to all those “fighting for justice” who have become “online detectives” over the last seven years is simply that they remain strong.“We all need to be heard now”, she concludes. “The fact is that the media is systematically failing to represent what is being said online with regard to Madeleine McCann”.

As the Metropolitan Police investigation moves into 2015 - having already cost the British taxpayer over £10 million - and a Portuguese inquiry is also ongoing, Poulton reveals that she has been in touch with Scotland Yard to say she would be “more than

happy” to be interviewed over her contention that many aspects of the abduction theory “do not add up”.

She claims “even a cursory glance” at the factual information available would show this, but that “heavy censorship” means that very few people are aware unless they delve into the police files.

“We will not be silenced any more”, Poulton said in an earlier clip, also posted on Youtube, shortly after Brenda Leyland’s death in October.

“We are no longer prepared to be ignored, or silenced or demonised just because we say that that official version of events needs to be questioned”.

As Poulton’s investigation continues, it is uncertain where the final documentary will be broadcast. Her move from The People’s Voice in January was not without controversy, and she has since been described on the alternative online blog The Needle as not so much a journalist but “just a woman with an opinion on everything”.

The blog's transcript of the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0P7uBP8B1I#t=37

“Hello there, about 2 months ago following the sad death of Brenda Leyland, myself and a production team started filming a documentary with the working title of “The Untold Story of Madeleine McCann”

And we called it the “The Untold Story of Madeleine McCann” because it quite literally is. I’ve been very disappointed by the mainstream media pursuance of the abduction theory story and what we’ve discovered so far during the two months of filming is that there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that there wasn’t an abduction that took place at all with Madeleine McCann.

And it’s an evidence-based documentary and what we did to this end is that we sought to seek interviews from the central characters of the Madeleine McCann disappearance and I have to say these have not exactly been forthcoming but nonetheless that hasn’t stopped me because I believe there are some people who are very much involved with the whole this scenario who have question to answer and who have not been asked those questions and so I’ve door stepped them. I’ve door stepped 4 of the main characters thus far to “you were there?” when Madeleine McCann was said to have disappeared in Portugal.

And also what we’ve discovered is the absolute prether… plethora, rather, of online trolls who have absolutely savaged me and attempted to smear me and I’m quite used to that because when you fight against injustices you get attacked and savaged, and they’re almost always anonymous, but it’s very interesting because obviously with modern technology we’ve quite legally, legitimately, been able to trace these people who are selling quite awful smeary things about myself and my loved ones. And so we will be going after them in this documentary because these people need to be revealed.

We will also, we’ve also now, traced somebody who is involved with the campaign of maintaining the abduction theory. Somebody who is very prolific online and is somebody who will shock people, and we have traced that person and that person will be revealed in the documentary.

What else do I want to say to you? To say thank you so very much to all of the people involved with fighting for justice to do with not only for Madeleine McCann now but Brenda Leyland as well, and I’m very grateful to all of you wonderful people helping me to research this documentary, I know we simply couldn’t have done it without you, because many people have literally spent the last 7 years as online detectives, searching this story inside out and, you know, as the saying goes, no stone has been unturned, again I want to thank you, to wish you a very Merry Christmas and say the documentary will not see light of day until after the end of March, when its hoped will be the final inquest into the very sad death of Brenda Leyland, so once again I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, stay strong, thank you for fighting for the truth not only for Madeleine McCann but also Brenda Leyland, take care.”

We would like to be very clear to our readers that we do NOT support the outing of anyone, under any circumstances.

If and only if those in Poulton's documentary (the door-stepped and "shocking" personality) have previously involved themselves publicly in the case, via PJ Files, media or internet, should they be named.

Otherwise their anonymity should be preserved and respected.

To support this outing would be to support, or at least accept, the way Brenda Leyland was outed by Martin Brunt. Something we clearly have condemned.

Happy New Year to the Sisters and the blog!"entrem com o pé direito"!(enter the New year with your right foot, this is what we usually say in Portugal, hoping that the year to come brings good luck)Happy New Year to all !

Well, both my husband and my son have black hair...but we live in Lisbon! Here we send off the old year and greet the new one by banging pots and pans together, blowing whistles, and throwing out some old stuff ! How these weird traditions came about, I have no idea !

Advert by Hacked Off has been banned on the grounds it was misleading Implied proposals were endorsed by judge who led press standards inquiry Ruling will embarrass lobby group which wants tougher press regulation Watchdogs found Hacked Off advert was 'confusing' and 'ambiguous'

An advert by Hacked Off, which is campaigning for tougher regulation of the Press, has been banned on the grounds it is misleading.

The ruling by watchdogs will embarrass the lobby group, which has been found guilty of failing to live up to the high standards of fairness and accuracy it demands of the Press.

The group hoped the power of celebrity would help it to victory in its cause and crafted an advert designed to win support.

It featured the names of more than 200 public figures it said backed its campaign, which appeared under the headline: ‘The Leveson Royal Charter Declaration’.

The language and presentation implied the proposals had been endorsed by the judge who led the inquiry into Press standards.

In fact, there was no such endorsement from Lord Justice Leveson in the advert, which ran in the Guardian and some other publications.

In a ruling today, the Advertising Standards Authority said the language used by Hacked Off was ‘confusing’, ‘ambiguous’ and ‘misleading’.

The decision may disappoint the many famous names recruited to support the declaration, who ranged from actor Stephen Fry to former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

The ASA said: ‘A national Press ad featured a number of names and the claim “What do all these people have in common? The Leveson Royal Charter Declaration”.’

It went on to state that leading figures were joining people who had suffered abuse at the hands of the media to support the establishment of a new Press regulator as set down in a Royal Charter agreed by MPs in 2013.

The Press and this new body would be overseen by a Recognition Panel set up by Royal Charter, which critics argue is the first step towards State regulation of a free Press.

The ASA said the group was wrong to use the name The Leveson Royal Charter Declaration without any clear qualification as it would lead the public to believe it was ‘one of the direct outcomes of the Leveson inquiry, rather than a response to it’.

Hacked Off said it would appeal and insisted it had only ever used the Leveson name to distinguish its proposals from others that were being put forward.

It even suggested the ruling was a political decision to please the Press.

A spokesman said: ‘We believe that the advert promoting the Royal Charter was very clear in what it was aiming to achieve and was not misleading.’

About the Casa Pia process that was ongoing when Maddie disappeared, involving a numerous Socialist Party (PS) personalities.Cases not related but I'm sure it had some weight when it came to helping cover-up on the Portuguese side as PS was in power then. All my opinion, of course.

Madeleine McCann holiday firm pulls out of Portuguese resort where she vanished

Jan 04, 2015 06:36 By Matthew Drake

MARK Warner will no longer operate the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the Algarve where Maddie went missing in 2007

THE holiday company at the centre of the Madeleine McCann case has quit the Portuguese resort where she vanished.

Mark Warner will no longer operate the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the Algarve.

The firm has been struggling to attract bookings there following the three-year-old’s abduction in 2007.

British holidaymakers shunned the complex as worldwide media coverage of the case raised safety concerns and profits dwindled.

A source said: “Mark Warner ended the deal recently after trying to make it work for a few years.

“Now people feel the resort will become deserted. It is a huge blow.

“At the moment the Ocean Club will be run by the trust that owns it. The Mark Warner deal was for them to take over and run it for a few years. Sadly, the year after they moved in tragedy struck.”

Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Grange, who are investigating her disappearance, flew out to the Algarve early last month to question witnesses.

They are keen to establish if there are any inconsistencies in statements.

The club has now been removed from Mark Warner’s website.

One local said: “This place has never been the same since Madeleine went missing. It is as if a cloud is hanging over the place the whole time.

“Now the British police keep returning and it rakes it all up again.”

Mark Warner took legal action five years ago against its insurers in a bid to recover lost earnings in the aftermath of the case. They filed the writ in the high court in 2009 seeking compensation from US insurance company AIG.

As soon as Madeleine went missing, Mark Warner sought to reassure parents, insisting the incident was a “one-off”.

David Hopkins, the managing director, said at the time: “Our security is terribly robust.” But a company spokesman acknowledged many parents would stay away until the investigation was over.

While some critics focused on security, others questioned why parents Gerry and Kate McCann had chosen not to use a babysitter and instead left their three children in an apartment at the resort while they had dinner nearby, checking them every 30 minutes.

A company spokesman said at the time: “It is a matter of public record that Mark Warner’s bookings to Portugal were affected by events.”

It is unclear how far the company’s profits were hit by the affair, but accounts showed that it made a loss of £2.8million in the year up to October 2007, on a turnover of £46million.

It said then: “The results for the year reflect the difficult trading conditions experienced by certain parts of the tour operating industry.”

Mark Warner built its reputation as a child-friendly holiday company popular with middle-class parents. The firm, founded in 1974, says on its website: “For over 30 years we have led the way in childcare and have kids’ clubs for all ages with free evening creche service.”

It seems that MW is trying to distance itself from Ocean Club, and is having its say, emphasising that it offered free creche services which the parents chose not to accept. The article references potential statement inconsistencies. Wondering what else you found interesting? I think it's timing is relevant.

Between you and Anon 10:55, you have nailed 4 out of 5 of the interesting things about it!

1. timing, 12DEC2014 (as per MW site) and only being reported on MSM now.2. free night creche services (according to files this wasn't free but your point is correct)3. statement inconsistencies4. a "one-off" event not compatible with abduction.

5th fact is not as visible but indeed in plain sight: the fact it was the Mirror reporting it.

Mirror is (was?) the only paper to give regular favourable coverage to the McCanns. The Sun no longer gives much space to McCann stories. Star and Express do cover, but there's usually a sting in the tail. Broadsheets aren't dealing with this at all.

So we consider very interesting the Mirror using the word "missing" instead of abduction.

Lastly, also interesting but not something from the article itself - reason why not listed above - but a deduction you also made, is the distancing of Mark Warner from the Ocean Club.

As you can see, a lot of interest is contained in this article that the internet is treating it like "old news".

At the start of three days of intense activity, Scotland Yard detectives sat in as Portuguese officers carried out the questioning.

The witnesses include expat businessman Robert Murat, who has made it clear he is glad to help.

He is expected to keep an appointment with police today along with his German-born wife Michaela. A small team of Yard officers arrived at Faro police station yesterday ahead of the opening round of questioning.

The first to be quizzed was dreadlocked pig farmer Joaquim Jose Marques, who clashed with two cameramen after he was interviewed by police.

Outside the police station, Mr Marques lost his balance and crashed to the ground as he appeared to swing a punch at one of them. As he returned from lunch, he hurled a water bottle at the other before going inside.

Officers later questioned Mario Marreiros, who used to work at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, from where Madeleine vanished in May 2007.

Mr Marques, Mr Marreiros and an unidentified third man were interviewed yesterday – the first of the 11 men and women to be questioned as witnesses this week.

Francisco Pagarete, Mr Murat’s lawyer, confirmed he and his wife had been asked to attend.

Scotland Yard has declined to comment, saying it will not provide a “running commentary” on the inquiry. The Scotland Yard team was led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, head of Operation Grange.

This is the inquiry set up in 2011 after Kate and Gerry McCann appealed directly to David Cameron for help. So far, it has cost £7.3million.

Mr Redwood retires in the next few weeks and the investigation will be taken over by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, an experience murder squad officer. She is due to meet Portuguese police chiefs on Friday.

Meanwhile, Goncalo Amaral, the 56-year-old former Portuguese police officer who led the original Madeleine inquiry, was due to appear in court as the £1million libel action brought by Gerry and Kate McCann resumed in Lisbon.

Mr Amaral was set to be questioned about how much money he made from his controversial 2008 book on the tragedy The Truth Of The Lie.

The couple’s Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said yesterday: “Kate and Gerry will not be returning to court and will have to wait for a final decision.”

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell added: “They have been told not to expect a reserved judgment till February next year. It just goes on and on. They believe they have a very strong case against Mr Amaral and they expect to win their claim.”

Former GP Mrs McCann and heart doctor Mr McCann, both 46, from Rothley, Leics, first lodged a 36-page writ against Mr Amaral in June 2009.

---------I know this article is from last month but it does confirm that McCanns expect sentence in February

News that holiday company Mark Warner has pulled out of Praia da Luz’s Ocean Club resort has been doing the rounds of mainstream media - particularly in UK - and been angled to suggest that the holiday resort has somehow been further stigmatised by the legacy of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, we are told, what has happened promises to bring a whole new wave of business both to the Ocean Club and the village of Luz.

Portugal Resident got wind of the story before Christmas when internet forums began speculating that “the curse of the McCanns has finally done it to Praia da Luz”.

They were reacting to the announcement online by The Vacation Company website which said: “We regret to inform you that Mark Warner no longer have a contract with the Ocean Club and therefore this property has been removed from their Summer 2015 programme with immediate effect.”

But as Ocean Club manager Donna Hill told us, they were reacting without knowing the facts.

Mark Warner’s owners, Mark Chitty and Andrew Searle, had simply decided to offer the Ocean Club exclusively to travel company Thomas Cook.

Chitty and Searle’s holiday company has pulled out of Portugal - not because of any fall-off in business over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but because Thomas Cook has offered them “a very good deal”, said Ms Hill.

“We’re all excited about it,” she added. “This is actually a golden opportunity for the Ocean Club as now everyone staying here will come from the same operator and we will be able to offer the same services for all our guests.

“This didn’t happen before as we had some people staying on the resort that came through Mark Warner and others that didn’t.

“It made organising activities extremely difficult, whereas now we’ll be able to put things on for everyone equally.

“We are all looking forward to it - and we’re hoping for an excellent 2015 season!”

In fact, despite the Madeleine “legacy” which still sees periodic moments of media chaos as police return to the Algarve to initiate new inquiries, business in Luz has been steadily growing with locals last year reporting a very good summer all round.

“It’s what everyone wants,” explained one shopkeeper. “We all just want to get on with our lives and our businesses and forget the bad press attached to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.”

Comments are welcomed, but its reserved the right to delete comments deemed as spam, transparent attempts to get traffic without providing any useful commentary, and any contributions which are offensive or inappropriate for civilized discourse.

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MESSAGE to NEWCOMERS

This blog believes that concerning the MADDIE McCANN case the following happened:

- Maddie McCanndied in the early evening of May 3rd, 2007, in the Apartment 5A. We believe the death to have been accidental.

- At the time of Maddie's death the Praia da Luz's Ocean Club was hosting a large swinging holiday in which the McCanns and friends were part of among many others.

- After Maddie's death a cover-up of unseen proportions and scope took place not to hide Maddie's death but with the main purpose of hiding the presence of swinging. To achieve that, Maddie's death had to be hidden.

- We don't believe there was any sort of negligence involved in the Maddie affair. We don't believe that T9 dined at Tapas Bar from Sunday to Wednesday. We think that on those nights they left their children with professional nannies - as did other guests - to go dine downtown PdL. On Thursday night they did use Tapas but that was simply part of what was to be "negligence"that was required to allow Maddie to be "abducted."

PJ Files

Anonymity

A MAJOR MINORITY

TRUTH is Self-Sustained

Think for yourself

Luz - THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

PdL - What a place. Why does anyone holiday there?It's populated by black heroin addicts, people who rob apartments, gypsies who steal scrap and wood, scruffy moustachioed lurers of children, bogus charity collectors, suspicious street musicians, men lurking near phone booths, glasses man lurking in stairwells, blond men suspiciously lurking outside apartments, soothing couples entering apartments without permission, mysterious gangs of cleaners, men taking photographs of children on beaches... And to top it all, you have to queue for a table booking.Anonymous 11Nov 2013 12:22:00

Maybe because you can always enjoy an ice-cream in the rain?And a dip in an icy pool on arrival always attracts a crowd.Textusa 11Nov 2013 12:28:00

I like the Tapas fragile chairs and tables. They wobble nicely when cutting thick grilled steaks spilling the drinks all about! It's fun for the whole family!Anonymous 11Nov 2013 13:08:00

And how about the number of men seen carrying little blond girls in the street in the middle of the night?Anonymous 11Nov 2013 14:04:00

PdL - where families take it in turn to vomit each night, dog packs pursue and bite joggers, guests fall off catamarans, damage tendons playing tennis, have shaving accidents and stagger around apartments bleeding, domestic appliances need repair, shutters jam, baby monitors won't function at restaurants, travel cots can't be assembled.. sounds like THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED.Anonymous 12 Nov 2013 12:37:00

Child Catcher

Algarve - THE REGION OF THE DAMNED

“Algarve – Where Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s Child Catcher found it ideal to roam the streets with his GYPSY-wagon:“There are children here somewhere. I can smell them. Come along, kiddie-winkies!”Algarve, the REGION OF THE DAMNED.”

Please Reconstruct I:

PJ's Declaration for Reopening Process:

"Madeleine McCann

As is the case with any situation in which a child goes missing, notwithstanding formal dismissal of the inquiry into her disappearance, and just as has always been publicly stated, the Polícia Judiciária never stopped paying close attention to any and all information that might possibly shed light on the whereabouts of the minor Madeleine McCann, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the identity of the perpetrator(s).

It was with this goal in mind that in March 2011 the National Director of the Polícia Judiciária entrusted a team of investigators from the North Directorate with the mission of reassessing, as a whole, the vast amount of information gathered during the inquiry, aimed at identifying data for which a more in-depth investigation might be useful and possible.

The reassessment which took place over the last two years and a half suggested new evidence to have surfaced, which, requiring the investigation to proceed, meets the requirements set out by section 279(1) of the Portuguese Code of Criminal Procedure for reopening of the inquiry.

Accordingly, a request for reopening was made to the Public Prosecutor for the jurisdiction of Portimao, and approval granted by the latter. "

The Anne Guedes Transcriptions

Permanent Suggested Reading

Quote

“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” Mark Twain

Revelations

"For the righteous, a revelation is a joyous event, the realization of a divine truth but for the wicked, revelations can be far more terrifying, when dark secrets are exposed and sinners are punished for their trespasses." Quote from the TV Series "Revenge" (T2 - Ep9)

Truth

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.Arthur Schopenhauer

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.Winston Churchill

The Revolution

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.George Orwell

The Revolution Goes Viral

"Once information networks become social, the implications are massive: truth can now travel faster than lies, and all propaganda becomes instantly flammable. Sure, you can try to insert spin, but the instantly networked consciousness of millions of people will set it right: they act like white blood cells against infection so that ultimately the truth, or something close to it, persists much longer than disinformation"The Guardian (04Jan12)

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts Winston Churchill

PRECIOUS, SO TRUE, WORDS

“One coincidence, two coincidences – maybe they’re still coincidences. Any more than that and it stops being coincidence.”

Kate McCann

(in MADELEINE, by Kate McCann, published in 2011 by Bantam Press, pg. 328)

Imagine...

"This says it all, Ms Loach hit the nail on the head!

"Ms Loach replied: “Imagine the public believing that you covered up your child’s death and then sought to make money out of it. They feel shame, humiliation and anguish."

Yes, that's exactly what we, the public, believe, because that's exactly what they did! And, their "shame, humiliation and anguish" are because they know we know!"

Comment posted by Anonymous to Textusa at Sep 16, 2013, 8:36:00 AM on "McCann vs Amaral Libel Trial" post referring to Mockumentary maker Emma Loach's testimony on the 1st day of said trial as one of McCann's defense witness.

Legal Disclaimer

This blog expresses exclusively the exchange of ideas and of opinions, between WHITE HATS, so is not responsible for the use, misuse or any form of interpretation (mainly misinterpretation) of its content, as although it uses a public medium, as is the internet, it's of PRIVATE nature, very much like any other conversation that takes place in a restaurant, pub or any other public location, where FREEDOM OF SPEECH is exercised.

Sound Explanation for Viciousness

Compliments from the Maggots' Lair:

- “…all the others pale into insignificance when compared to textusa.”

- “I think she should be on the streets and off the internet"

Chinagirl):

- “Disgusting piece of slime.”

(Raptor):

- “Yikes ! That's disgusting.”

(preciousramotswe):

- “You are right. It's a shambolic mess of vitriol and obtuseness. But then they always are. The one that some claimed finally 'proved' who was carrying who during the Smith sighting is a masterpiece of deliberately confused arguments in which labrynthine plots are used to cover how empty the central thesis is”

Out of the Blue (or... Black?)

Hey textusa How are you? well I hope,just thought I would tell you that there are videos about you on youtube, claiming you are an internet predator who stole her daughters identity and prowls the forums for young boys, they say you are welsh!! I think its a case of mistaken identity because are you not portuguese and male? Anyway great blog. keep it up.(Anon., Nov 13th, 05:43)

Conversation from the "Lightless Zone"

sabot:

“Wot Round Table?”

bonnybraes1:

“He/she/it invented a barking mad 'theory' about no-one actually having eaten in the Tapas, because he/she/it couldn't grasp the table arrangements.”

So, because textusa doesn't understand stuff like that, all the Tapas group, the staff, everyone, were lying.

OMG - you don't suppose textusa is actually Gonc, do you?”

sansouci:“Could be Bonny.

The 'theories' about the table and the watersports are really so far beyond bizarre, that I get the feeling that 'textusa' could actually be 'pisstaka'.”

BLACK BUT TRUE WORDS

“Because no-one is more vicious in their search for payback that those who realise they have allowed themselves to be taken for a fool” (A "boomerang" comment left by an Anonymous (Insane?) at Sep 22, 2012 2:06:00 PM)

Insane's IMPORTANT Comments

“…How would any of you idiots like it if your name came into the public domain because you were witness to a crime, and some mad bitch set up a site in which she called you a liar, and claimed you were actually involved in the crime you witnessed? Just ponder on that for a moment”

Aug 28, 2011 9:27:00 AM

“…Where is your sense of shame or decency in accusing innocent witnesses of being involved in covering up the death of a child?

I see no shame or decency on here - just an utter indifference to the rights or feelings of others.

I notice no-one had the balls to answer my question about how you would feel if this was done to you - if you were a witness to a crime and some deranged cow on the internet accused you of being involved. You are all a complete disgrace.”

Aug 28, 2011 1:09:00 PM

FOOT IN THE MOUTH DISEASE

Insane (Nov 14, 2012 11:37:00 PM):

Oh look here - amazing what one can find out by means of a couple of emails to Mark Warner.

You are toast, lady. Finished.

I am going to enjoy this more than is actually decent.

Textusa (Nov 15, 2012 8:50:00 AM):

Well it seems that you're quite privy with the Ocean Club aren't you?

Them giving YOU the information about their own mails?

And you threatening us based on information that YOU apparently got from the Ocean Club.

That's really interesting, isn't it?

Insane (Nov 15, 2012 10:47:00 PM):

One thing I really like about Mark Warner is how helpful their staff are. Really go the extra mile for someone needing information. IYKWIM

:)

Textusa (Nov 16, 2012 11:17:00 AM):

Thank you for confirming that Mark Warner Staff are supplying YOU with information pertaining the Maddie Affair.

Insane's Moment of Rare Beauty

“It would be more suspicious if every account tallied. Police expect to find contradictions, don't tell me you did not know this?” (Nov 22, 2012 3:38:00 PM), when providing an opinion on contradictions from various statements in the PJ Files.

“I don't give a rat's arse about the statements which tally too closely - of course some of them tally too closely, there is an in depth analysis of them on my blog, the one you are not invited to.” (Nov 22, 2012 4:08:00 PM), when, exactly 30 minutes later, provides an opposite opinion, in this case about the fact that some of Tapas' Staff's statements tally too closely.

Insane the Entrepeneur?

"I'd love to stay, but I have a report to write, and it won't do itself, will it?" (Nov 29, 2012 8:14:00 PM)Insane the Disruptor, a new profession shown inNew Career Opportunities

Insane's Proposal for a New Legal Disclaimer

Textusa's new disclaimer. Please ignore all previous versions

''This blog expresses exclusively the exchange of ideas and opinions between people who have sniffed WAY too many solvents, and the imaginary people who live at the bottom of their garden, and so is not responsible for the enormous fines, possible imprisonment, or lifelong incarceration in a mental hospital which may result from it's content, as although it is on the interclickyweb, it is of a private nature, accompanied only by the voices in their heads, very much like any other conversation which takes place in a psychiatric ward between people rocking backwards and forwards in their seat and eating the wallcoverings, where FREEDOM OF SPEECH is exercised in the half hour per day of free association which the inmates are allowed.''Comment NOT published but submitted on Aug 22, 2011 10:17:00 PM

Kate's Round Table

INSANE'S BLOG

We waited so long for the link...

A possible explanation for the wait: "As I have made perfectly clear, you and your sort will never have access to my blog. We are particular about who we invite, and would not include screaming harpies and riff-faff like yourself."unpublished comment from Insane at Nov 23, 2012 10:55:00 AM

Then, a glimmer of hope?“Publishing elsewhere the posts Textusa refuses to publish is also appropriate - and also gives you fools a chance to read what she withholds from you, knowing that you would desert her if you were aware of how much trouble she leads you into.” (Nov 29, 2012 12:40:00 PM)

No, it wasn’t to be so… :“For the last time, you will never be provided with a link for my blog - you are not welcome there and will never be given access”(Nov 29, 2012 1:38:00 PM)